


Getting Into Trouble

by Isabeau_Gower



Category: Sci-Regency Series - JL Langley
Genre: M/M, sci-regency
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-03-02
Updated: 2009-03-02
Packaged: 2018-01-18 16:22:30
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 41,417
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1434940
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Isabeau_Gower/pseuds/Isabeau_Gower
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Trouble's life hasn't been the same since his adoptive father married into the Royal Family of Regelence and the circumstances of his own birth were revealed.  For a boy who'd rather be on an IN Destroyer, learning that you are a Marquis and having to study the customs and traditions of a foreign place, 'rains meteors', as he would say.  Given the chance to escape from those lessons for the day and in the company of the one bright spot in his new life, Crown Prince Rexley, Trouble jumps at the chance, but as everyone should have known, where Trouble goes, trouble follows.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Getting Into Trouble

**Author's Note:**

> This novella was originally written after I read the first book in JL Langley's Sci-Regency series, My Fair Captain. After I finished, I found there was already a second book, The Englor Affair and I have corrected bits of my story to comply with that book as well. This story is intended to take place about two years after the events of the first two books.  
> This work is strictly fan-fiction. The main characters that appear here and the universe the story is set in are the sole property of JL Langley and no infringement of copyright is intended. I look forward to the day when her version of Rexley and Trouble's story appears and I hope you do too.

Trouble skidded to a halt in the hallway and looked around, checking for options. He’d had as much of his ‘tutor’ as he could stomach for the day and the young truant was declaring class to be over no matter what the learned gentleman’s pocket watch said.

 

Trouble had accepted the fact that he had been born Jeremy Summers, Marquis of Winstol, but Jeremy Hawkins was fed up with all the pomp and circumstance. He was heir to a fortune, he was betrothed to the heir apparent of Regelence, he was a nobleman that had been kidnapped and lost. Just because he’d spent most of his life on an IN destroyer instead of hobnobbing with the rich and powerful, did it mean he had to learn everything there was to know about the noblesse oblige overnight?!

 

Trouble looked over his shoulder and grinned. He seemed to have lost his pursuers for the moment, now all that remained was to find a good hiding place to kill an hour or two. Wandering to the end of the corridor, Trouble pushed open a pair of French doors and walked out onto a small balcony that faced the rear of the royal estate. In the distance, Colton trotted on his favorite horse and Trouble could see his step-father, Aiden, drawing on one of his sketchscreens. Closing the doors behind him, Trouble found a chair and pushed it to the far side of the balcony where he would be screened from the glass doors and rested his feet on the railing in front of him.

 

Colton’s antics amused him for a time, but eventually Trouble closed his eyes and dozed off in the breezy coolness of the early fall weather. The next thing he knew, the glass doors had opened and someone was clearing their throat to get his attention.

 

“Aw, crap,” Trouble mumbled under his breath and turned slowly to see who it was that had found him.

 

“Pardon me, Jeremy. I hope I’m not disturbing you.” Rexley, Crown-Prince of Regelence and the object of both Jeremy’s troubles and fantasies stood a short three feet away looking delectable, if a bit overdressed in Trouble’s opinion. The formal clothing of this world, with its elaborate cravats and long coats, irritated Trouble who’d grown up in IN jumpsuits aboard his father’s ship; but it fit Rexley like a comfortable glove and he moved, even in the most elaborate attire, with grace and ease.

 

Rexley stood motionless; one hand still gripping the handle of the door where he’d closed it behind himself, and waited for an answer. When Trouble sat in the chair simply staring back at him but not replying, Rexley released the lever and took a single step forward, cocking his head to one side, “Jeremy?”

 

“Oh, right, sorry, I was just, um…” Trouble turned his head away from the doors and back to the open fields. “I was just watching your brother riding and…” Trouble stopped in mid sentence when he realized that the grounds were empty and Colton was probably long gone. Even Aiden had retreated inside at some point as the clouds had moved in and now Trouble noticed a few fat raindrops were falling on the floor of the balcony wetting the paving stones and his trouser legs.

 

Trouble blushed in embarrassment, but Rexley simply smiled back. “You must have dozed off while you were out here.” Rexley paused and held out his hand. “Why don’t you come back in before the rain starts in earnest? You’ll get soaked if you stay out here.”

 

Trouble bit his lip and considered his options. He didn’t want to go back inside and get cornered by his tutor again, but he couldn’t very well explain staying outside any longer either.

 

“Don’t worry,” Rexley said, his grin going slightly crooked, “your tutor gave up and left ten minutes ago when I suggested that he might want to get home ahead of the rain.”

 

Trouble’s face lit up like the sun and he launched himself off of the iron porch chair, nearly hugging Rexley before stopping himself short. “Thank you, Your Highness,” Trouble said gratefully as he followed Rexley back into the palace.

 

“Don’t thank me just yet,” Rexley warned. “William was rather put out and I had to promise him that I would finish your lesson on his behalf so that you wouldn’t be behind tomorrow.”

 

Instantly, Trouble’s face went from delighted glee to depression and his steps slowed to a foot dragging crawl. Not wishing to appear ungrateful, Trouble looked up at Rexley from under lowered lashes and explained. “I’m sorry, Your Highness, I really do appreciate this, it’s just that I’m sick to death of dishes and plates and forks and spoons and napkins.”

 

“Oh, I see,” Rexley said as he straightened and locked his hands behind his back. The temptation to reach out and hug Jeremy was becoming stronger, but Rexley had been trained to observe his planet’s proprieties from the moment of his birth. “Table manners, is it? But surely you know all of that already? Traveling with your father on board the Lady Anna, he said you’d attended formal dinners before.”

 

Trouble nodded. “Yeah, I did and I do know all this stuff. He just added it to my studies list to get back at me for what happened at the banquet after he made Admiral.”

 

Rexley blushed remembering the incident. Trouble had caused a small scene that evening over the artwork on the dishes that was rather explicit. The image was the sort of thing that one saw everyday in art, but that no one ever really asked about aloud. Trouble wasn’t just anyone. Rexley cleared his throat. “Yes, I see. Well, it shouldn’t take us long to go over things in that case. Perhaps if we can demonstrate your proficiency tomorrow morning when he comes back, he might be persuaded to give you the rest of the day off.”

 

Trouble’s eyes lit up and he looked at Rexley hopefully. “Do you really think so?”

 

Rexley nodded. “I have a suggestion for an alternate lesson, one that would involve getting away from the palace for the day. I think we could persuade him to go along if you can master the table lesson first. What do you think?”

 

Trouble smiled. “I could get out of here, seriously? What is it?”

 

“Let me show you,” Rexley said as he walked down the hallway, away from the balcony and down to the library. Punching up the computer, Rexley scrolled through the files and selected one marked, ‘Hedge Row.’ A picture of a four story mansion, fairly standard in appearance but for the addition of unique gable-like features at the four corners of the roof, filled the screen and Rexley turned back to Jeremy. “This is Hedge Row, one of the properties that are part of your inheritance. The mansion and grounds have had nothing but basic upkeep since your fathers’ murders so it’s a bit run down. It is a fascinating house though, architecturally speaking, and I thought you might like to see it.”

 

Trouble leaned over Rexley’s shoulder, close to the prince’s back and so that their faces were inches apart as he stared at the screen in fascination. “That’s so cool. Man, it’s huge, isn’t it?”

 

“It’s not the largest house among your properties,” Rexley replied trying to focus on the screen instead of the scent of Jeremy standing so nearby. “It is one of the most interesting though, in my opinion.”

 

“I have more than one house?!” Trouble asked, his voice indicating his surprise.

 

“You have six homes not counting any of the summer houses or farming estates,” Rexley responded evenly. “You really don’t understand just how wealthy your family is, do you, Jeremy?”

 

Trouble moved slightly to the side so that he could turn his head and look at Rexley. “No, I guess I don’t really get it. I mean, Hawk told me it was a lot, but everything seems like a lot after you spend your life on ships and space stations, you know?”

 

Rexley looked at his fiancé and tried to picture how Trouble must have looked when Admiral Hawkins first found him after so many years of being on his own. Remembering the way he himself had found Muffin abandoned in the alley and how she looked, the thought gave Rexley chills. He didn’t like the picture he imagined at all.

 

“I understand,” Rexley said quietly. “In that case, perhaps seeing the house isn’t something you’d like to do.”

 

“Are you kidding me?” Trouble replied. “Let’s do it. You’re gonna come too, right?”

 

“If you have no objections, Jeremy, I would enjoy that very much.” Rexley turned back to the computer and shut down the program. “Before we make any further plans though, don’t you think we ought to get to work on those table lessons?”

 

“Okay, okay,” Jeremy grumbled, but his face betrayed his excitement. The lessons wouldn’t be that much of a bother for him now that he was working toward a goal.

 

For three straight hours, Rexley worked with Trouble, teaching him what he didn’t already know and refining those points where he had only a working knowledge.

 

“Now,” Rexley said standing up from the classroom table and offering his arm, “let’s go down to dinner and show off what you’ve learned to your father.”

 

Trouble stood and looped his arm through Rexley’s while he chewed on the inside of his cheek. His first inclination was to go down to dinner and embarrass his father for putting him through these lessons, but there was a problem with that. One, he needed to show his father that he was more than capable of performing at a state dinner and he needed the man’s permission to escape the castle the next day. The second problem was the one slowly walking him down the stairs to the long dining room. Trouble had difficulty misbehaving in Rexley’s presence and it was doubly difficult in this instance since the young man had taken so much time of his own time to help him out today. Trouble might enjoy living up to his nickname most of the time, but tonight he would be Jeremy.

 

***

 

Rexley watched out the corner of his eye, wanting to see Trouble, but not wanting to stare at the young man. He knew that Trouble was trying very hard to make a good impression and from the looks on the other diners’ faces, he was accomplishing what he set out to do. Rexley grinned. In a way, his fiancé was still causing trouble because his perfect behavior was so confusing to his father and the rest of the household.

 

Rexley’s father, Steven, was the first to verbalize his concern. “Jeremy, are you feeling alright?”

 

“You are rather quiet tonight,” Raleigh added.

 

Trouble swallowed the bite of dinner currently in his mouth and dabbed appropriately at his lips with his napkin before looking up and addressing the King and the King-Consort, “No, sir, your majesties. I am quite well this evening. Thank you for asking.” Trouble smiled and bowed his head courteously before lowering his eyes demurely and going back to his supper.

 

“That’s it,” Nate growled, dropping his fork loudly onto the side of his plate and tossing his napkin forcefully on the table beside it before physically turning his chair to glare at his son. “Trouble, what are you up to?”

 

Trouble looked up, blinking innocent eyes at his adoptive father. “I’m sorry, sir, I thought this was how you wanted me to behave at dinner.”

 

Nate stared at his son until both men lost their composure and began laughing. “Alright, Trouble,” Nate conceded, “you’ve made your point. What is it that you want so badly that you’d actually behave for a change?”

 

Rexley put a hand on Trouble’s arm to stop him from answering and turned to Nate. The prince had planned on appealing to William directly, but this opportunity was even better. If Rexley could convince their parents to give their approval, the tutor would be no issue at all. “If it would be agreeable to you, sir, I’d like to take Jeremy out to Hedge Row to tour the house tomorrow. It would give him a chance to see a part of his estates and I could point out some of the more distinguishing features of typical Regelence architecture.” Rexley turned to face Steven, “With your permission, Father.”

 

Steven smiled at his eldest son. “It sounds like a fine idea to me, Rexley. Of course, it’s up to Nate though since he is both Jeremy’s father and the trustee for the estate and I would insist that you take both a chaperone and a guard for form’s sake as well as your safety.”

 

Rexley nodded once. He’d expected the demand. “I thought we might take Jeremy’s tutor to act as chaperone and Haverty as a guard.” Rexley turned to look at Nate for his approval.

 

Nate’s eyebrow went up at both the suggestion of Haverty and the amount of thought Rexley had obviously given to planning the day. “Haverty’s a good man, probably the best you have on security if you are only taking one person. May I ask why you aren’t taking more than one guard though?”

 

“Until recently, sir, it hasn’t been custom on Regelence to need any guard. I recognize however, that things have changed and so I selected someone I thought would meet with your approval. Haverty is extremely competent and since we will only be seen by a handful of people over the course of the day, I’m assuming the danger will be minimal.”

 

Nate’s expression was skeptical as he listened to Rexley’s words and he turned to Raleigh. “Do you really think this is alright?”

 

Raleigh nodded and turned to his son. “You’ll check in with us when you arrive and when you leave and I’ll have a tracker on your lift.” Raleigh turned back to Nate. “The house is only about two hours ride away and we’ll know where they are. I don’t think it should be a problem.”

 

Rexley looked Nate in the eye and spoke with conviction. “I will take good care of your son, sir.”

 

“Alright, alright,” Nate finally conceded with Aiden gripping his hand under the table and urging him on. “You can go, but I want you back before dark. Do you understand?”

 

Rexley nodded solemnly. “Yes, sir, I do, sir. Thank you, sir.”

 

Trouble, finally having gotten his way, launched himself graceless out of his chair to hug Nate and pumped his fist in the air. “Alright!” he exclaimed.

 

“I’ll give the caretaker a call after dinner and let him know that you’re coming,” Steven offered as he grinned at Trouble’s antics. “For now, Jeremy, you’d better finish your dinner and get to bed. Both of you have a long day tomorrow.”

 

Trouble retook his seat next to Rexley and finished his dinner, but the smile never left his face for the rest of the evening or even through the night as he slept.

 

***

 

The next morning dawned overcast but dry with a crisp breeze in the air. When Trouble stumbled down to breakfast, Rexley handed him a heavy cloak to take along. Nate watched the pair from a distance and waited for Trouble to refuse the heavy, woolen garment.

 

Despite bundling up in heavy flannel pajamas when the rest of the planet wore little more than a simple sleep shirt to bed, Trouble loathed the head to toe layers of formal wear that were the norm for everyday wear on Regelence. Even after all the months that had passed since they’d settled on their new home planet, Trouble still complained loudly about the fussy clothing, especially the elaborately tied cravats which were a skill he had yet to master for himself.

 

As Nate watched on this occasion though, a sleepy eyed Trouble took the enormous garment from Rexley and simply draped it over his elbow with a smile of thanks. Aiden, watching the scene unfold from just behind Nate, poked his husband in the side and whispered in his ear.

 

“Still think they aren’t a good match for one another?” Aidan asked quietly, giving a little nip to his husband’s earlobe while he was in the area.

 

“It’s not that I think there’s anything wrong with your brother, boy. I can see that Rexley is obviously a good influence on him. It’s just… this is Trouble we’re talking about. I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop.” Nate put his arm around Aiden’s waist as he spoke and pulled his husband close to his side. “And I seem to recall that I wasn’t the only one opposed when this all first came out.”

 

Aidan blushed slightly, remembering his harsh assessment of Trouble’s suitability where his brother was concerned, but he had come around in the time since. “I wouldn’t worry too much, sir. In his own way, I think Rexley needs Trouble as much as Trouble needs him. Rexley is too controlled, too responsible. If Trouble could get my brother to enjoy himself, even a little, I think it would be good for him and I don’t believe the monarchy would collapse overnight.” Aiden grinned at Nate and started to walk backward toward the stairs, tugging Nate along with him. “And now that breakfast is over, I think you might have a few minutes before you have to be to work. Don’t you think, sir?”

 

Nate looked down at Aiden’s twinkling eyes and impish grin and started to follow. “I think I might have a few minutes, boy, but you’d better make it worth my while.”

 

Aiden’s grin broke into a full smile and he ran ahead to the bedroom while Nate followed at a more sedate pace. Nate imagined that Aiden would be naked by the time he arrived in their room and he checked his watch to see just how much time he had before his lift arrived to take him to HQ.

 

***

 

The caretaker huddled in the corner of his cottage’s small kitchen with his wife and teenage daughter while the five men in the tiny living room argued in front of him.

 

“I say we kidnap the royal brat. He’s literally worth a king’s ransom,” Jones suggested.

 

“Are you crazy?” the man called Burleigh replied. “We have a sweet deal going here, one hundred kilos of Solar Wind ready to head to the spaceport and you want to bring down every security officer on the planet by taking him with us?”

 

“I’m with Jones. This little visit means we have to shut down the whole operation. Why shouldn’t we get a little something out of it?” Wilson chimed in.

 

“Maybe if we kill ‘em, we wouldn’t have to shut the operation down. We could keep going if no one saw anything, right?” Davis asked.

 

“No way, Davis, the boss was right. We have to shut down now. This visit must mean that someone’s planning on opening this place back up. Even if we killed the brats, someone would come looking for them and then we’d have even less warning to pack up and leave.” Burleigh was adamant, but looked to his boss to back up his assessment.

 

“You are quite correct, Burleigh.” Cartwright turned to Davis and Wilson. “What is the status of the breakdown? Will we be ready to move soon?”

 

“We’ve got the merchandise and the pre-cursors ready to go. We’re just packing up the last of the equipment and the processing chemicals, unless you want to leave them behind?” Wilson detailed. “We’re running out of room on the cargo lift and there’s no where to put the dogs.”

 

Cartwright smiled and turned back to the kitchen. “Well, I suppose if push comes to shove, Mr. Reddling would be happy to watch the dogs and store some of the barrels for us, especially if we return the favor by taking his daughter along.” Cartwright ogled the teenage girl and licked his lips. “You can think of it as a field trip, little lady. We’ll expand your horizons, show you the universe. Won’t your momma and daddy be proud?”

 

All five men laughed as the small family huddled closer in the kitchen and the young girl whimpered in her parent’s arms.

 

Cartwright turned back to his crew. “I’ll tell you what, gentlemen; we’ll play it by ear. Go ahead and give them their little tour. Maybe they’ll come and go, no harm done and no one the wiser. If necessary though, we can always take out their chaperones and guards and then decide what to do with the boys in our own sweet time.”

 

Jones licked his lips and chuckled darkly at the thought of being able to take the Crown Prince along. He’d seen images of the heir apparent and Rexley was a handsome, younger version of Steven Townsend, King of Regelence. The Reddling girl child did nothing to peak his interest, but Rexley Townsend was another matter. He might have to wait until Cartwright and his lieutenant, Burleigh, had taken their turns with the man, but Jones was determined to get a piece of the royal ass if he got the chance.

 

***

 

The two hours of the journey passed quickly with Rexley teaching Trouble the subtle art of cravat tying while the tutor droned on identifying the plant life that they passed on route to their destination. As nice as it was to escape the castle for the day, Trouble was ready to get out and stretch his legs by the time they arrived.

 

Hedge Row’s mansion rose high in the air from the circular driveway where the lift slowed to a stop. To the right and slightly behind the building, the group saw a series of large barns for horses, lifts and equipment and to the left was a small carriage house where the groundskeeper likely lived with his family.

 

The tutor stepped out of the lift and waited for his younger charges to follow. “I’ll just walk over to the caretaker’s place and let your families know that we’ve arrived.”

 

The guard looked around at the run down estate and overgrown weeds. Something about the overly quiet yard made Haverty uneasy, but he put it down to the long trip. Haverty was a city man and the country always left him feeling out of his element. He’d been part of Regelence’s military for fifteen years and was still adapting to civilian life.

 

Trouble took two steps in the direction of the barns when a young man rushed out of the caretaker’s cottage and called to the group. “I don’t think you want to go down there, sir. Barn’s been full of snakes and rats since the horses were all sold off. We don’t use it much nowadays and with the rotting wood and so on it’s pretty dangerous.” Burleigh smiled with false sincerity and took his hat off of his head in a gesture of respect toward the heir to the estate and his esteemed company.

 

Trouble looked at the man and back at the building before glancing at Rexley who stood with one hand out waiting for him. Shrugging his shoulders, Trouble moved back to the group and accepted Rexley’s arm.

 

“Would you be the caretaker here, then?” The tutor, William, asked in a clear voice.

 

“Aw, no sir,” Burleigh answered. “My name’s Ben, sir. I’m the caretaker’s oldest son. My brother Jim is inside with my father if you needed to see him.”

 

“Would it be alright if we used your communications unit? I promised His Majesty that I would contact them when we arrived,” William explained as he puffed his chest with the importance of his task.

 

“Yes, sir, of course, just step this way.” Burleigh stepped aside to allow William to enter the house, but remained outside with Rexley, Trouble, and Haverty. “I can take you gentlemen up to the house and let you in now, if you’d like?”

 

“Would it be possible for your father to join us?” Rexley asked. “I know he must be very busy, but I imagine he’s more familiar with the history of the house and I’m sure Lord Winstol would like to know more than just the limited knowledge that I’ve gleaned out of books from someone who saw things firsthand.”

 

Trouble blushed at being introduced as Lord Winstol. Even after several months, it still hadn’t quite sunk in that he belonged in the same company as men like Rexley and his fathers and Rexley sounded proud of Trouble and his title. Trouble wasn’t big on all the fuss, but he was grateful in a way. He enjoyed the time he managed to spend with Rexley, both listening to him and watching him. The Crown Prince had an ass to die for and the sound of his voice always did interesting things to the muscles in Trouble’s legs and when that voice praised him for doing something right…

 

Trouble’s mind wandered off onto more pleasant pursuits than the study of architectural forms and he wondered just what Rexley’s basic form would look like outside of all the many layers of clothing that the dutiful prince wore each day. Trouble was both frustrated and intrigued. The tight pants revealed just enough of Rexley’s virtues to peak Trouble’s interest, but hid so much more that Trouble wanted to see.

 

“Jeremy,” Rexley’s voice interrupted Trouble’s daydream and he looked around to see William, ‘Ben’, the caretaker – Mr. Reddling, and Jones who was posing as younger brother Jim already waiting for them on the path to the main house.

 

“If you’ll just step this way, your highness, your lordship, gentlemen,” Reddling indicated the way to the house and let his visitors precede him to the front door where he took out a large set of keys and turned the lock. “We used to have thumbprint locks,” the caretaker explained, “but when the power got shut off and it was just us few, we went back to the old-fashioned locks to keep out the troublemakers.”

 

The caretaker smiled at Trouble, but he noticed how the man’s hands shook as he worked the keys in the lock. In the distance, he heard a pack of dogs barking wildly. “You have dogs?” Trouble asked.

 

“Oh, um, yes, sir. That dissuades unwanted visitors as well.” Reddling said as the door finally yielded and he motioned for the group to step inside.

 

The men shrugged out of their overcoats as they entered the house, Rexley folding his cape carefully and draping it over one arm. Trouble groaned at the thought of carrying the heavy woolen garment around all day and found a convenient chest under a window in the enormous entry hall to drape his cloak over before rejoining the other men.

 

Rexley wandered around the rooms and listened intently as the caretaker explained what he knew about the history of the estate and the notable particulars of each and every room. Trouble groaned as he saw William take out a small camera and notebook and suspected there would be a test later on everything about the estate. Haverty glanced around at their surroundings occasionally, but seemed to focus more on Rexley and Trouble’s whereabouts and the locations of the exits to each room.

 

For his part, Trouble was both fascinated and disgusted by the amount of wealth that was indicated by the house. Even in its neglect, the mansion displayed hints of its former grandeur to the visitors: inlaid floors, enormous mirrors that might have been taken down but for the need to have six or more men to move them, crystal laden chandeliers, and fireplaces that were large enough for two men to stand side by side inside them.

 

Gradually, the group wound their way up the stairs with Rexley seeming to become more and more fascinated with each passing floor. After the first floor however, Trouble started to grow bored. All the rooms seemed the same to him after the first few bedrooms and libraries. The conservatory was a little more interesting and the stained glass in some of the rooms was quite pretty, but it hardly seemed to him to be worth the level of interest that his tutor and fiancé were showing in the surroundings.

 

By the time the group reached the fourth floor, Trouble wasn’t the only one wondering about the time. The caretaker and his eldest son seemed anxious to wrap up and send the visitors on their way and the younger son kept darting odd-looking glances in the prince’s direction. Rexley, oblivious to the agitated looks of the others, darted from room to room, peeking under the cloths that covered the remaining furniture to protect it from dust.

 

Finally Haverty spoke up. “I’m sorry, Your Highness. We should probably go soon. We did promise to return before dusk and we still have to check in before leaving. Besides, I’m sure the caretaker and his sons have a great deal of work to attend to before their day ends.”

 

Rexley glanced up from where he had crouched to investigate a three legged table and looked for a moment as though he might protest until he saw the expressions on Mr. Reddling’s and Trouble’s faces. Clearing his throat and rising up, Rexley put his hands behind his back in a stiff, formal posture. “Yes, of course, I am sorry to have taken up so much of your day like this, especially on such short notice.” Rexley glanced behind himself one last time with a wistful look and started toward the door to the hallway nearest the large staircase.

 

As the group had moved from area to area in the house, Mr. Reddling had periodically opened various windows to air out the stale air. Trouble, who had been leaning against the broad sill of one of the open windows while they waited out Rexley’s curiosity, took a deep breath of the fresh breeze and noted a scent lingering in the air as Reddling moved to close it back up against the elements. “That’s a funny smell. It’s kinda sweet and flowery. It seems familiar but I can’t place it.” Looking at the caretaker, Trouble asked, “What is that, some kind of local flower?”

 

Mr. Reddling turned to look at his sons, and Trouble couldn’t help but notice how pale the caretaker seemed to become.

 

‘Ben’ smiled broadly back at Trouble. “It’s a night blooming jasmine that’s local to these parts. Generally the blossom stays closed until dusk, but sometimes it will open early on overcast days like today. You got a rare treat getting to smell it at all since they are only in season for a few weeks a year.”

 

“Oooh,” William cooed. “Could we see it before we go? I’d love to get a picture to add to my botany files. I’ve never heard of such a late blooming variety of flower, especially in this area.”

 

‘Jim’, seeing the opening he’d been waiting for, grinned in the tutor’s direction and offered, “I’d be happy to get some for you, sir. No need to trouble yourself trampling all the way through the field. Go ahead and make your call and I’ll meet you with it at dad’s place.”

 

William and ‘Jim’ made their way quickly down the stairs while the others followed at a much more sedate pace. The caretaker and his eldest ‘son’ brought up the rear, the son offering his arm to his father in a gesture of filial affection that kept Burleigh’s fragger close to the older man’s side.

 

***

 

Back at the cottage, William finished his transmission. After calling into the palace system, he reported their itinerary to Jeffers and then switched the connection off. As the tutor stood up from behind the desk where the caretaker kept his communications unit, Jones walked through the door carrying an ordinary bit of Queen Anne’s lace from the field behind the house.

 

“That can’t be right,” William started to say just before the fragger hit him dead in the center of his chest. Eyes still open, William fell to the floor, lifeless.

 

Hearing the sounds of both the fragger and the body hitting the floor, Cartwright walked out of the bedroom behind the corpse and frowned at the latest development. Cartwright’s attitude was no indication that he had any issue with the taking of life; rather, he simply disliked sudden alterations to his well laid plans. Noticing the wildflower in his underling’s hand, he gestured toward the bloom and asked Jones, “So what’s with the weed?”

 

Well aware that the question he was really being asked was why he had shot the tutor once it appeared that the group might leave without causing trouble, Jones bit his lip and gave his justification. “The youngest brat smelled the cooked drug residue off of the boilers from the window over the barns. Burleigh told the idiots it was a local blooming plant and the chaperone here wanted a sample of the rare flower.” Jones laughed as he spoke and tossed the wildflower onto the tutor’s corpse. “There’s one bodyguard left in the house with Burleigh and the old man. Other than that, it’s just the two lordlings.”

 

“And the chaperone has already checked in, so if they go missing, they won’t be looking for them here. Good thinking, Jones.” Cartwright smiled, pleased at the options still presented by the situation. “Alright, go take out the guard. Make very certain none of them can make it to the lift. I’m betting the damn thing is fragger proof so we can’t afford to let them get that far. If you can take them alive, do it, otherwise… no witnesses, Jones.”

 

Jones licked his lips. Having seen the young heir to the estate, Jones was hungry for both young men, but he would follow orders. Neither one of them was worth risking a noose around his neck or a firing squad depending on who caught them.

 

Jones walked back to the house and met up with the other five men in the large entryway of the mansion. “Your chaperone is quite a talker, milord, but I expect he’ll be up shortly.” Jones shut the door to the house behind him as he spoke. As the bodyguard moved to the window to look down the path for William’s progress, Jones nodded at Burleigh and then motioned with his head to indicate Haverty while he fingered the weapon in his own pocket down to a stun setting and prepared to shoot Rexley and Trouble.

 

As Burleigh moved his arm into position and took aim, Reddling grabbed the drug runner’s arm and shouted a warning. Burleigh got his shot off, but the blast was deflected away and down so that it caught Rexley’s calf instead of Haverty’s back.

 

Haverty turned away from the window at the sound of fragger fire and caught sight of Reddling struggling with Burleigh; and Jones, who was training his weapon on Trouble. Drawing his own fragger, Haverty fired and brought down the distracted Jones inches from Trouble’s feet.

 

Burleigh growled in frustration and elbowed the caretaker in the face before managing to tag Haverty with a grim looking hit to the side.

 

Trouble watched as both Rexley and Haverty fell to the ground wounded and dove for the weapon still clutched in Jones’ right hand. Burleigh wheeled around and took aim on the young lord, catching the edge of the fragger. The plasma discharge flashed and ricocheted wildly, most of the blast ending harmlessly in a wall though not before scalding a proximity burn across Trouble’s hand and the bright flare of the laser hitting the fragger’s metallic grip itself made the young man’s eyes water and his vision grey out.

 

Reddling grabbed at Burleigh’s legs and fought desperately to distract him. Mercilessly, Burleigh placed the fragger against the old man’s forehead and discharged it, killing him. The time the caretaker bought them was enough, however. Haverty had gripped his bleeding side with his off hand and rolled after he hit the floor. Gritting his teeth against the pain and shock, the bodyguard brought up his weapon, took careful aim at Burleigh, and struck him in the center of the chest, killing him.

 

“Get the caretaker’s keys and lock the door,” Haverty hissed at Trouble as he slid across the floor to check on Rexley, leaving a trail of blood in his wake.

 

Trouble blinked several times in an attempt to clear his vision, which was still spotty from the bright flash, before he could snag the keys from the caretaker’s lifeless hand and do as instructed. As Trouble double checked the locks on the curtain less windows, a flash of movement caught his eye and he saw the remaining three drug runners approaching the front of the mansion. “I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but these guys weren’t alone and company is coming fast.”

 

“That’s what I was afraid of,” Haverty said. “Grab the other two guns if you can and help me out over here.”

 

With his undamaged hand, Trouble pocketed the keys and picked up Jones’ fragger before leaving it with Haverty and then retrieving the fragger still in Burleigh’s hand.

 

“You ever fire one of these before, Your Lordship?” Haverty asked Trouble as he used the wall to help him get his feet under him.

 

“Yeah, Hawk figured I’d better know if I was gonna be on board ship. Everybody needs to know at least how to handle one safely or you end up in a vacuum.”

 

“Good,” Haverty replied a bit breathless. Trouble could clearly see that Haverty’s side hadn’t cauterized with the blast as would be normal with a direct hit and the guard was still bleeding profusely. “Take his Highness and find someplace to hide. I’ll stall them as long as I can, try to take them out if I’m lucky, but be ready to use that if you need to. I’m counting on you, Lord Winstol.”

 

Trouble met Haverty’s gaze. The bodyguard realized that he was going to die in the next few minutes and while Trouble could see that awareness in his eyes, he saw no hint of fear for himself, only for his charges. Haverty would lay down his life to defend the Crown Prince and the Marquis of Winstol and be proud to do so. Unable to speak, Trouble nodded and grabbed Rexley, helping the prince to stand and then starting for the staircase.

 

“Not the main stairs, milord, too open. Make your way to the servant’s stairs in the back.” After giving that final direction, Haverty slid back to a corner where he could observe all the windows into the central hall and waited for the attack he knew would come.

 

Rexley gritted his teeth against the searing fire in his leg and did his best to move quickly with Trouble’s help. When they reached the servants’ stairwell, Trouble started to head down toward the basement, but Rexley shook his head. “We’ve got to get to the fourth floor,” he said emphatically through the pain.

 

“Are you insane? You’ll never make it that far and exactly where do you think we can we hide up there with just a few bits of furniture even if you do?” Trouble was full of adrenaline and ready to fight but he wasn’t ready to see Rexley die.

 

Rexley staggered forward to the upper floor staircase and looked Trouble in the eyes, pleading. “Please, Jeremy, please trust me.”

 

Trouble sighed. He never could refuse Rexley anything when the prince called him by name and spoke in that beautiful voice he had. “I’m gonna regret this, I know it, but let’s go.”

 

The pair had just made it to the fourth floor landing before the sound of breaking glass told them that the battle downstairs had begun. Rexley paused, orienting himself and then pointed to the room at the end of the hall, the room they’d visited last on their tour.

 

Taking a deep breath, Rexley forced himself forward and limped on his own strength through the hallway and across the floor of the small bedroom back to the three legged table he’d been inspecting only a few minutes earlier. Tearing off the sheet that covered it, Rexley turned back to Trouble. “Watch the door; it might take a minute for me to locate the mechanism.”

 

Trouble looked at Rexley as though he’d lost his mind, but gripped the fragger tightly in his good hand and pointed it in the direction of the bedroom door. From the corner of his vision, Trouble watched as Rexley removed the drawer to the small table that was bolted to a side wall and reached an arm into the gap left behind.

 

Rexley mumbled to himself as he struggled. “Come on, come on, I know it has to be in here somewhere…”

 

A metallic clicking sound reached Trouble’s ears and he turned to watch in fascination as a small section of wall behind the table swung forward. Rexley replaced the drawer and grabbed the cloth, struggling to fit it back over the table. When it looked the same as it had before, he waved Trouble into the dark crawlspace.

 

“Go forward for a bit, but mind your head. Eventually, the passage ought to turn to the right and open up,” Rexley advised before following Trouble and pulling the wall back into place behind him. Feeling around on the inside of the wall, Rexley found the bolt that would prevent the passage from being opened again and pulled it down into place.

 

***

 

When Burleigh and Jones failed to reappear after the sounds of fragger fire echoed across the grounds, Cartwright ran to the mansion, calling out for Davis and Wilson as he went and his cohorts met him by the front door. Edging along the wall, the leader of the drug ring cautiously peered through one of the windows and caught sight of Jones, Burleigh and the caretaker, all dead on the floor.

 

“Damn!” he exclaimed heatedly. “Those two idiots couldn’t handle one guard and two pampered noble brats.” Turning to face Wilson and Davis, he explained, “We lost them and the caretaker.” Cartwright grimaced and leaned back against the wall facing the sky. “This changes things.”

 

Davis reached out and tried the front door. “Boss, they’ve got us locked out.”

 

“Which means someone in there is still a problem,” Cartwright observed. “I had planned to get the caretaker to behave and take care of the dogs and the remaining supplies by taking his girl with us, but with him dead, we’ll have to make a new plan.” Cartwright closed his eyes and sighed heavily. “Alright, first things first; each of you take a window on this side and look in. Give me some cover fire if you see anyone inside. I’m going to go around the back and sneak in from there.”

 

Wilson and Davis nodded and took up position at two of the windows on the front side of the building. Grabbing a large stone from the driveway, Wilson smashed his window and pulled back.

 

Haverty responded quickly and the fragger fire shattered the remaining glass where Wilson had once stood.

 

Davis grabbed a large rock of his own and waited for Wilson to signal that he was ready. When Davis connected with the window and Haverty’s fire turned in the direction of the new attack, Wilson leaned back toward the opening and fired into the building randomly.

 

Haverty smiled as his opponents’ shots went wide and brought up his left hand holding the second fragger the boys had left behind for him. The three quick shots he got off at the first window narrowly missed catching Wilson.

 

“Dust!” Wilson shouted as he pulled back to safety along the wall outside the window. “That’s gotta be the bodyguard in there and the bastard’s got two fraggers on him.”

 

Davis nodded and leaned around the corner, silently signaling the information via hand gestures to Cartwright who’d just reached the back of the building.

 

Cartwright grimaced and nodded his head, acknowledging the intelligence, and advanced to a window off the pantry that was isolated in the rear of the mansion. Pulling his jacket off and wrapping it around his arm to protect it, he carefully elbowed a hole in the glass near the window lock and reached through to manipulate the latch and lift the window out of the way. Cautiously, Cartwright slipped through the portal, after first scanning the kitchen through the open pantry door and listening for any sounds that would indicate he’d been discovered.

 

Dropping to a low stance, Cartwright moved out of the pantry and through the kitchen toward the front hall, advancing when the sounds of fragger fire would mask his footfalls and when the guard would be most distracted. As he reached the arch leading to the grand entrance, Cartwright saw the prince’s bodyguard tucked into a curve of the grand staircase that was offering him cover from the front windows, but left Haverty’s side completely exposed to the drug runner’s view.

 

Cartwright smiled a twisted grin as he raised his weapon and took aim. Haverty caught a movement out of the corner of his eye and turned to react, but it was too late. Cartwright fired and Haverty slumped to the floor.

 

“Now, Your Highness,” Cartwright muttered to himself in the still quiet of the vast room. “Where have you and your little friend gotten to?” As he spoke, his eyes scanned the room, but he saw no sign of either young man. Finally convinced that the boys must have fled to a different part of the mansion, Cartwright called out to Wilson and Davis, “I got the guard, but the brats are hiding,” before moving to the window and opening it to let his henchmen inside.

 

As Wilson and Davis crawled into the mansion, Cartwright inspected the four dead bodies in the large main hall. “Burleigh and Jones’ fraggers are missing. The bodyguard has two fraggers, but at least one of them should be his so that means those pampered little bastards must have the last fragger on them.”

 

Wilson and Davis exchanged a look. It was one thing to chase a pair of unarmed boys, it was another to hunt prey that bit back. “So you want us to search for them?” Davis asked unenthusiastically.

 

“It could take hours to search this place and with only the three of us, we couldn’t even keep the doors and stairs covered to make sure they didn’t double back,” Cartwright answered.

 

“What if we just burn the place down? They’d either go up with the house or we could shoot them as they came out,” Wilson suggested.

 

Their leader shook his head. “No, we can’t. If we set fire to this place, it would be a beacon in the dark. There’d be emergency personnel swarming the roads to get here and we wouldn’t be able to get away without being seen or maybe even detained.”

 

Cartwright paced the room as he thought up a plan and passed the trunk where Trouble had laid his cloak. As his eyes fixated on the garment and he reached out to stroke the fine fabric, a kernel of an idea formed in his head and he withdrew his hand, smiling. “Bring up the dogs,” he directed Davis, “and you,” he said turning to Wilson, “Give me a hand getting these bodies out of here.”

 

While Davis retrieved the guard dogs, Cartwright and Wilson maneuvered the bodies of Haverty, Reddling, Burleigh and Jones to the window and pulled them out to lie on the ground. When Davis returned with the guard dogs, all six, Cartwright signaled his underling to send them in through the window. Holding Trouble’s cloak, he let each dog get a good sniff before sending them throughout the mansion to patrol, find, and kill the intruders. As the dogs ran off through the house, Cartwright smiled.

 

“We don’t know if they’ve been wounded, but they certainly managed to get out of this room and we can’t afford any witnesses left behind. We don’t have time to waste playing hide and seek though if we want to make that freighter.   It’s a shame to lose the dogs, but we couldn’t take them with us anyway and they’ll make certain those two won’t get out of this house alive if we lock them inside with no food.” Cartwright crawled out the window and turned to his two remaining henchmen. As his eyes fell on the dead caretaker and the enormous burn mark on his temple, an idea came to him. “We’ll ditch the rest of the bodies and make it look like the caretaker committed suicide. If he’s ever found, the barrels we’re leaving behind will make the authorities think his family ran away over his involvement in drug running and so he killed himself.”

 

Wilson smiled and nodded in agreement, but Davis looked uneasy. “Won’t it be expensive having to replace the dogs and the chemicals? And what about the bodies, won’t they connect them with this place and back to us too?”

 

Cartwright stared at Davis. He wasn’t angry over being questioned, he took it as a good sign that the boy thought things through and contemplated making Davis his new lieutenant when he got a new group together. “We’ll make more than enough money selling the two women to make up for the processing chemicals with a little left over. It’s the made product that’s important and the seeds to start a new Solarran crop and we have those. As for the bodies…” Cartwright paused and looked over Burleigh and Jones. “Those two are close enough in size to the prince and his boy toy. If we put them in the lift with the bodyguard and chaperone and toss it over a cliff between here and the port, no one should suspect that they were killed here. It’ll take time for any rescue team they send to get the bodies out and if we’re lucky and it catches fire, they’ll need DNA to sort out the switch. We’ll be long gone before anyone in the security forces connects all the dots and I don’t plan on coming back to this planet again anytime soon anyway. Besides,” Cartwright paused and looked up at building behind him before continuing. “Even if the royal brats make it out of here somehow, no one’s going to pursue us. They’ve never seen the three of us and we know as good a secret as they do. With their chaperone dead and them together alone, they could get us hanged, but we could ruin their precious, virginal honor. I doubt the loss of three mere servants would be worth the risk of scandal pursuing us would cost them.”

 

Davis smiled at his boss. “I like it,” he commented before poking Wilson in the side. “Come on; help me get these two into the lift.”

 

Cartwright checked his pocket watch as the two men lifted their former comrades and Haverty and placed them inside the royal lift. “Grab Reddling and follow me down to the cottage. We need to set up his body by the desk and get a fragger in his hands and you can take that pompous chaperone’s corpse back with you while I get the girl and her mother.”

 

“How are we gonna take them along, boss?” Wilson asked. “Aren’t they gonna give us away at the port?”

 

“Oh, the ladies are quite pliable now,” Cartwright answered. “They’re sailing along on the Solar Winds and life looks just lovely to them. They’ll be gentle little biddable lambs for the whole trip if we keep them high enough. Once we hand them over to the slavers, I really could care less.”

 

The men set to work and loaded the women into the cargo lift and William in the royal lift. In the caretaker’s small cottage, Cartwright sent a message to his connections alerting them to his projected time of arrival and then the three set up Reddling at the desk. Shoving Haverty’s weapon into the caretaker’s fingers and wrapping his hand around the fragger, they slumped the man forward on the desk with his hand pointing toward the killing wound Burleigh had made.

 

Stepping back to admire their work, Cartwright nodded as Davis opined, “It looks perfect; like he was just sitting at the desk and shot himself.”

 

“Should we leave a little Solar Wind behind, do you think?” Wilson asked.

 

Cartwright tilted his head to the side and contemplated. “No, too obvious, I think. They won’t find any in his system so that might make it look too staged. Not a bad idea, Wilson, but not this time. Sometimes simple is better.” Moving to the door, Cartwright gave the room a final once over and gestured with a tilt of his head. “Let’s get moving.”

 

Cartwright tugged on a pair of gloves and drove the royal lift two thirds of the way toward the space port before he found a location that he liked for ridding them of the bodies. Unfortunately, the lift didn’t burst into flames as the criminal had hoped, but the tree lined ravine was so dense that it was nearly impossible to see the vehicle once it had reached the bottom.

 

“Wow,” Wilson commented as the three watched the lift tumble down the steep cliff and out of sight. “That could take days for them to find.”

 

“Yes,” Cartwright replied with a smile. “Yes, it could. Now, let’s get off of this damn planet and go enjoy ourselves for a while.”

 

Climbing into the cargo lift, the three drug runners and the remaining members of the Reddling family continued to the space port and boarded a freighter bound for Englor.

 

***

 

Trouble tucked the fragger into his pocket and crawled to the end of the small hallway, which did indeed turn to the right revealing a hidden room. The tiny room was obviously a corner of the building and had a small amount of light coming in from the ceiling. It was cramped, dusty, had no food or running water and Trouble was grateful beyond measure to see it. As Rexley crawled through the small opening behind him, Trouble turned to ask the million questions he had on the tip of his tongue and instantly forgot them all.

 

Rexley looked bad. His face had taken on an ashen pallor and it wasn’t until the prince was fully inside the room that Trouble finally noticed the extent of Rexley’s leg wound.

 

“Let’s get you over here,” Trouble suggested pointing to a small twin mattress that sat on the floor in the center of the room.

 

Rexley looked over the ancient mattress that had seen better days and sighed. Shrugging out of the cape he’d donned minutes earlier in anticipation of leaving, the two spread it over the surface of the bed giving them a clean place to lie down and then Rexley stretched out on top of it. Trouble started to push up the bottom hem of Rexley’s trousers to better assess the damage, but winced when the injury to his hand protested.

 

Rexley sat up quickly and grabbed Trouble’s wrist.   “You were shot?” he exclaimed, forgetting that they were hiding.

 

“Shhh,” Trouble hushed the prince. “It’s just a glancing burn to the back of my hand. I was reaching for Jim’s fragger, if that was even the guy’s name, when his brother tagged me. It’s not bad, but it certainly stings.”

 

“Let me take care of that,” Rexley asked, not releasing Trouble’s arm.

 

“What about your leg?” Trouble whispered.

 

“You won’t be able to do much with one hand,” Rexley responded. “Now let me see if I can help before we lose the little light we’ve got.”

 

As Rexley pulled a clean white handkerchief out of his pocket and laid it over the bright red burn on Trouble’s hand, Trouble looked around and realized that there were no other sources of light in the room outside of the small windows angled in the ceiling. “What is this place?” he finally asked.

 

“Your great-grandparents were fascinated with Earth history and architecture. Secret rooms and priest holes and the like are a challenge to build into a home and yet many of the larger mansions and castles of Earth had such features. Several of the Summers’ homes were rumored to have successfully incorporated secret spaces into their plans and this was one of them,” Rexley answered as he reached up to untie his cravat and pulled it off of his neck.

 

“What were they used for?” Trouble asked as he watched Rexley work.

 

“Over the course of history they were used for a variety of causes, but it generally had to do with hiding a person or a special object. Some people hid small chapels when certain religions were banned, abolitionists hid slaves who were on the run in search of freedom, priest holes were used to hide Catholic priests during the Reformation and some people even used them to hide secret art collections.” Rexley wrapped the cravat around the smooth white handkerchief as he worked and tied the ends off neatly when he finished. “And before you ask, no, I don’t think your grandparents were doing anything nefarious here, I think they just enjoyed the challenge.” Rexley paused and looked around. “It looks to me as though your father probably used it as a secret hideaway when he was a child.”

 

Trouble looked around the room at the sparse number of objects and the inches of dust coating the floors and nodded in agreement before realizing that Rexley had finished with his hand. Gingerly he flexed his fingers a bit and smiled. The fine fabric protected the inflamed skin from the room’s dusty air and clung to the injury without scratching or irritating. “It hurts a lot less, thank you,” he said earnestly. “Now, let’s see that leg.”

 

His job now done, Rexley obediently stretched out on the soft wool of his cloak and let Trouble see to his leg. Burleigh’s fragger had been set to a tight beam for maximum intensity and so the burn was small, but deep and Trouble was concerned as to how it would heal if they didn’t get out of the room and find help soon. In the meantime, he decided that Rexley’s idea was probably the best treatment for the prince’s injury as well. His cotton handkerchief was clean and it would keep dust and debris away from the wound, but the fabric would allow a certain amount of air to penetrate. Grabbing his own hanky and cravat, Trouble folded the white cloth to a small square and then tied the cravat around it. “I know that probably doesn’t help much,” Trouble said without looking up at Rexley, “but it should at least keep the wound clean.”

 

Rexley reached forward and put two fingers under Trouble’s chin, forcing him to meet Rexley’s eyes. “It helps a great deal. Thank you, Jeremy.”

 

Trouble blushed and wriggled away from Rexley’s touch to examine their surroundings. “So, um, there’s no light in here except for this?” he asked pointing at the odd windows around the ceiling.

 

“The strangely shaped gables and roof decorations that this particular mansion is best known for are actually a deliberate design feature to mask the roof windows for this room. There may also be a small hatch for letting in fresh air if the architects believed that the gables hid the room well enough.” Rexley leaned back as he spoke and peeked around the ceiling, searching the room for himself.

 

Trouble smiled at Rexley. “You really get into this stuff don’t you?” he asked.

 

Rexley nodded but continued to examine the room. “Architecture is a particular interest of mine, just a hobby of course, but I find it fascinating.” Spotting something, Rexley gestured. “What’s that lever there? Give that a try.”

 

“Why, ‘of course’?” Trouble asked as he followed Rexley’s line of sight to a small iron protrusion and gave it a push. The lever yielded slightly so Trouble braced his weight, got a better position and pushed hard. The bar finally shifted and opened a small six inch by twelve inch gap in the roof, but the rusty metal also creaked loudly and both men’s breath caught as the sound echoed in the tiny space.

 

“Dust,” Trouble cursed quietly. Grabbing his fragger from his pocket, Trouble moved quickly to the opening of the room, dropped to a crouch, and listened.

 

In the distance the sound of barking dogs grew louder and louder until it was obvious that the drug runner’s guard dogs were standing watch somewhere outside their small hideaway. Trouble couldn’t be sure exactly where they were, but definitely within the house and likely on the fourth floor.

 

Giving no notice to the dirt and dust getting on his pants, Trouble sat heavily on the floor and put his head in his hands. Any notion he might have entertained about being able to sneak out of the building to get help had just gone up in smoke. When he looked up, Trouble saw Rexley gesturing to him to join him on the small mattress.

 

“It’s alright,” Rexley said softly.

 

“No it’s not,” Trouble protested, “I’m so sorry. I should have been more careful.”

 

“It’s alright,” Rexley insisted. “I expected that they would at least post a guard and with no light sources in the building since the power has been shut off, we would never have made it out after dark anyway. That they went ahead and put the dogs in here with us and haven’t come looking themselves suggests that they may have decided to wait until morning to come in and find us.”

 

Trouble harrumphed and ducked his head to the side. What Rexley said might be true, but the young man had the feeling that the prince was just trying to make him feel better. “So I guess we’re gonna be stuck here for a while,” he observed stating the obvious.

 

Rexley nodded and then the smile fell off of his face as he realized the rest of his predicament. They had lost not only their bodyguard and their safety, but their chaperone as well and they could be trapped alone together for quite some time before anyone might come looking for them. Seeing Trouble looking at him with concern, Rexley waved him off. “It’s nothing.” After a brief pause he continued, “You should search the room and familiarize yourself with what we have and where it is before we lose the light. I’m not sure how much of a moon we’ll have this evening unless the clouds move off and it might be quite dark.”

 

While Trouble searched, Rexley tried to work out what he might be able to say to one Nathaniel Hawkins. Admiral Hawkins was an off-worlder who had taken more than a few liberties with Regelence’s customs when courting Rexley’s brother Aiden, it was true, but when it came to his own son, Nate Hawkins was a firm believer in the letter of the law.

 

Rexley hung his head and muttered under his breath, “Your father is going to kill me.”

 

“What was that?” Trouble asked, his head poking up from a small chest that sat along the wall and that he had opened to investigate.

 

Rexley shook his head. “It’s nothing for you to worry about. Have you found anything interesting?”

 

“Well,” Trouble gestured around the room as if to display the large amount of nothingness. “Aside from a few empty cups gathering dust on the floor and that funny toy horse head on a stick leaning against the wall, there’s just these two chests and some big covered soup tureen in the corner.”

 

Having seen the hobby horse when they’d first arrived, Rexley turned to look where Trouble gestured and saw the elaborate, porcelain chamber pot with its heavily weighted canvas covering. “Um, Jeremy… that’s not a soup tureen. That’s for…” Rexley blushed and stopped.

 

Trouble tilted his head to the side and stared at the large vessel for a moment before it dawned on him what it was used for. “Oh I get it. It’s like a portable toilet, huh? You rich people sure have a lot of weird stuff.” Trouble turned back to the pair of tiny chests along the long wall, his interest in the ‘tureen’ long forgotten in favor of other pursuits. “So anyway, this chest,” Trouble paused to gesture at the one off to the right of where he currently sat, “has got a couple of woolen blankets. They’re old and pretty beat, but they’ve been covered up inside the chest so they’re at least clean and dust free.”

 

Rexley sat up a bit. “That’s good. I’d rather not close the vent unless we have to, but I suspect the temperature will be a bit chilly this evening. Maybe we can manage with the blankets.”

 

Spending most of his life on a ship, Trouble wasn’t plagued with claustrophobia, but the small opening might also give them some warning as to what was going on outside if the sound carried to their advantage and the fresh air coming in was a nice bonus. While the rest of the house had been aired periodically, this room looked as though it had been sealed up tight for over 20 years and the air inside felt dead. Trouble nodded his head and turned back to the chest that was in front of him. “This one was apparently where someone kept their personal treasure trove. I think you were right about my dad using this as a playroom. There’s an electronic reader whose batteries are long dead, a notebook and pencil, a rock collection, a soft plastic toy sword, and some small toy soldiers.”

 

“I suppose when the rest of the house was packed up, no one left knew that this room existed. It’s probably just as it was the last time your father visited here decades ago,” Rexley conjectured.

 

Trouble nodded and slowly closed the lid on the trunk. “It’s kinda neat to see this stuff, weird, but neat. I have no memory of either of my fathers. Hawk is the only dad I’ve ever really known.”

 

Rexley nodded sympathetically, but remained silent. He understood just how lucky he’d been, growing up privileged and having both his father and his sire there to raise and care for him. It was part of why he felt his duty to the people of Regelence so strongly. Rexley wanted to be a good king and to lead his people in safety and prosperity.

 

Trouble stared at his hands for a few moments, as though trying to see his genetic parents through them before shaking his head and turning back to the first trunk. “Anyway, um, there’s nothing much in either of them that will help as far as weapons or calling for help or first aid or anything.” Trouble paused and snatched up the two blankets from inside. “Sorry,” he added as he moved back over to the small mattress and stared at his feet.

 

“Why are you apologizing, Jeremy? Finding these blankets was a great stroke of luck. We’re safe for the time being. We’re warm and dry and you have a fragger. Eventually our fathers will figure out that we’re missing and with the tracker on the lift, someone will show up to find us soon. We just have to stay here until then.” Rexley put one hand on Trouble’s shoulder and ducked his head to the side, trying to see Trouble’s face.

 

Trouble raised his head and looked Rexley directly in the eye. “You’re lying.”

 

Rexley’s eyes went wide and he let go of Trouble’s shoulder. “What are you talking about? They will find us, Jeremy.”

 

“You keep reassuring me about everything, but I know something’s bothering you and you won’t tell me what it is. What’s going on that you don’t want me to know, Rexley?” Trouble insisted.

 

Rexley sighed and slumped forward dejectedly. “It’s your father. I promised him that I would keep you safe on this trip and look what’s happened. He’s going to be furious with me and rightly so.”

 

Trouble stared at Rexley, speechless for a moment, before a grin broke out over his face. “Are you serious? Is that what you’ve been brooding over? We’ve got three guys downstairs, probably well armed, and who knows how many dogs wanting to have us for lunch and you’re worried about Hawk?”

 

Rexley’s face turned both indignant and serious and he sat up straighter. “This is no laughing matter, Jeremy. I’ve not only led you into danger, but I have compromised your honor as well. Your father would be well within his rights to demand a duel.”

 

Trouble blinked and shook his head. “Setting aside for a minute that there was nothing you could have done to know ahead of time that a gang of criminals were here and would attack us, how in galaxy’s name have you compromised my honor? You aren’t making any sense.”

 

Rexley shook his head. “I disagree, Jeremy. It was my impulsive suggestion that we come here. I should have sent a security team ahead of time and had the house checked before ever bringing you here. It was careless of me to assume that a trip out here was little different than a visit to the city. I should have checked the staff rolls for the estate. I suspect those two men were not the caretaker’s sons and had I done that, I would have known something was wrong immediately and we could have escaped in the lift rather than being trapped in the house. I didn’t think any of this through properly at all. You and your father counted on me to act responsibly and I’ve let you both down.”

 

“I…You…” Trouble sputtered, anger and frustration cutting off his words and it was only with great effort that he kept from screaming at the rafters. “Listen up, Lord Responsible. You need to get over this notion that absolutely everything in the universe rests on your shoulders. I know I’m a free spirited little brat sometimes and I don’t take some things seriously enough, but your obsession with perfection and rules and duty and responsibility is completely over the top. You’re worse than Hawk. Both of you have that whole, ‘I’m the captain and the buck stops here’ thing going on.” Trouble paused and looked blankly at a wall for a moment. “Oh great galaxy, I’m marrying my dad.” Shaking his head, Trouble faced Rexley again. “Where was I? Oh yeah, anyway, I get that whole burden of command thing, but Rexley, you take it too far. You’ve gotta let some of this go or you’re gonna explode. Nobody could live like that for long and be anything but miserable. It would drive me crazy in a week.”

 

Rexley dropped his gaze to his hands. “I know it’s difficult for you to understand. You’ve been thrust into this culture with all of our rules and regulations and traditions that are so foreign to you. I can’t even explain to you why we do all of the things that we do, I’m still learning some of it myself, but it’s been my duty since birth to uphold the customs of Regelence and protect its people. I have no other duty in life but to be the king someday. It’s not something that I could change even if I wanted to, and I don’t, but I do understand your feelings. I would never have pressed forward with the contract and once you were twenty five you could have annulled it. Now…”

 

Trouble felt like a fish with his mouth gaping open. “What are you talking about? I’m talking about your life, your attitudes. Can’t you let some of this go? Let someone else carry a part of this burden? Now you’re going on about the contract our parents made. Rexley, what the heck are you talking about?”

 

“We’re alone,” Rexley answered simply.

 

“No kidding, I hadn’t noticed,” Trouble answered sarcastically. “I don’t think we’d be having this conversation if the nice assassins and doggies were here in the room with us.”

 

“We have no chaperone,” Rexley elaborated before looking Trouble in the eye and falling silent again.

 

“So, that’s a problem?” Trouble asked and watched as Rexley nodded. “I thought since we were already officially engaged and all that that it was no big deal.”

 

“That our courtship is recognized does allow us to spend more time together, but the restrictions on chaperoning are not necessarily relaxed.” Rexley sighed. “Besides, both our fathers know that the engagement is something that is against your will and you were quite clear a moment ago that this life would make you crazy. Everyone is really just biding their time until you turn twenty-five and can legally annul it yourself. Now that I’ve compromised you though, I don’t honestly know what will happen.” Rexley’s tone was as apologetic as the expression in his eyes. “I’m so sorry, Jeremy. I never meant for any of this to happen. I promise you that if your father prefers to duel, I will not harm him. Father, Cony, and my brothers will simply have to understand.”

 

“Whoa, wait a minute, slow down here, will ya?” Trouble was struggling to understand everything that Rexley had said, but the line about dueling was clear enough. “Nothing has happened here. Why would you think my dad is gonna want to duel over nothing?”

 

Rexley noticed that Trouble was starting to shiver in the cool air settling into their small room. “Where’s your coat?” he asked.

 

“I left it downstairs, I think. I don’t really care right at the moment. What are you talking about?” Trouble tried to stay focused. The conversation was giving him a headache, but it was too important to let go.

 

Rexley grabbed one of the two blankets and opened it halfway before draping it over Trouble’s shoulders. “We will have been together alone for hours before anyone finds us. Even if no one else actually sees us here but our parents, someone is bound to figure out that with our escorts dead I have compromised you and here we are in a room with a bed no less. The only way out is marriage or a duel. I believe your father loves you far too much to force you into anything and so we will have to duel.” Rexley finished fussing with Trouble’s blanket and looked at him with conviction. “Please don’t worry about anything though. As I have said, I will not harm your father and my family will certainly not press a suit against you after I’m gone if the contract is adjudicated to pass to the next heir.”

 

Trouble leaned away, horror slowly crawled up his spine as he listened and understood that Rexley was calmly discussing his own death. “No,” Trouble whispered, “I’m not hearing this.”

 

“Jeremy?” Rexley asked as he watched Trouble shaking his head from side to side.   “Please don’t upset yourself about this. It will all work out, I promise.”

 

“You promise?” Trouble growled out in a whisper and turned furious eyes on his fiancé. “How could you promise anything if you’re gonna be dead.” Trouble grabbed Rexley by the lapels and shook him furiously when Rexley looked as though he was ready to respond, to say something, and then Trouble interrupted him. “No, just shut the fuck up. Whatever it is, I don’t wanna hear it.”

 

Rexley put one hand down on the bed next to himself to keep his balance as Trouble shook him. “Jeremy,” Rexley said softly, surprised at Trouble’s reaction.

 

“I mean it, Rexley, no more talk about this dying bullshit or I swear I’ll hit you.” Trouble’s eyes reflected his sincerity and Rexley’s eyes widened. “We’re gonna get out of here and everything’s gonna be fine and nobody’s gonna die. Got it?”

 

Cautious of his injury, Rexley shifted his legs to support himself and brought his hands up to put them over Trouble’s where the young man still gripped his jacket front. “Jeremy, please calm down. I know it’s hard to understand when you didn’t grow up used to it, but this is the way that things are. I have an obligation to you and your father and I must set things right. It’s my duty.”

 

“Yeah, you have an obligation to me. What about that? You’re gonna run away and get yourself killed instead of marrying me? What the hell is that about? You aren’t making any sense at all.” Jeremy’s eyes looked down to where Rexley’s hands covered his own and tried to hold back the urge to cry that was slowly creeping over him.

 

“I… heard about your reaction when you were told of the marriage contract our parents had made before we were born. I don’t blame you.” Rexley paused to glance away for a second and smiled. “I think my father was rather hoping that I would be similarly outraged. He looked very upset when he told me and seemed even more upset that I was calm.” Rexley looked back at Trouble. “At any rate, I know that you have no wish to marry, no wish to stay here on Regelence at all, in fact, and I respect your feelings. I won’t trap you into something against your will that way. It would be wrong.”

 

“What do you know about my feelings? Have you ever asked me?” Trouble challenged Rexley. “I may not know a lot about Regelence society, Rexley, but I know right from wrong and what’s wrong is this garbage about you dying for my sake over something as idiotic as purity. It’s stupid, it’s pointless, it’s…” Trouble flailed and desperately thought of something to say. “It’s… it’s treasonous.”

 

Rexley’s eyes went wide and he looked as though he was about to choke. “Treasonous?”

 

“Yeah, you heard me.” Trouble let go of Rexley’s jacket and sat back, nodding at Rexley and stalling for time as he worked out an approach to his argument. “You talk about your responsibility to me and Hawk. Well, what about your responsibility to your dads and your planet? You’re the heir to the throne and you’re talking about killing yourself.”

 

“I’m not talking about killing myself,” Rexley started. “All I said was that I wouldn’t hurt your father.”

 

“No, you’d let Hawk kill you without raising a finger to defend yourself is all. You said, ‘after I’m gone’ so you’re going into that fight intending to die. You may not call that suicide, but I sure do.”

 

Rexley thought for a moment. “You may be right. I suppose it isn’t fair of me to go through with it unless I made your father understand that I wouldn’t defend myself first. He has the right to choose what is best for his family understanding all the consequences and I wouldn’t wish to leave any awkward feelings between him and Father and Cony. You shouldn’t worry about a charge of treason though, Jeremy. If your father called for a duel, he would be well within his rights to do so and no charge of treason would ever be leveled against him, I assure you.”

 

Trouble growled in frustration and sat up on his knees before leaning forward and grabbing Rexley’s shoulders. Their faces inches apart, Trouble hissed, “I’m not talking about my father, I’m talking about you. You are conspiring to use another individual to kill the Crown Prince of Regelence. That is treason.” Jeremy’s lips twisted in a crooked grin as he shoved a surprised Rexley away from him and down onto the bed before getting off his knees and sitting back normally once again. “I should place you under some kind of citizen’s arrest or something. That ought to slow you down.”

 

Not expecting Trouble’s adrenaline charged reaction, Rexley flopped back on the bed and stared at the ceiling for a few moments before propping up on his elbows to stare at his fiancé’s smirk incredulously. “You aren’t serious, are you?”

 

“You don’t think so?” Trouble asked. Straightening his back and looking Rexley in the face, Trouble spoke in a formal tone of voice, “Rexley Townsend, I arrest you on a charge of Conspiracy against the Crown Prince of Regelence. At the first opportunity, you will be handed over to the proper authorities, but until such time you will be my prisoner.” The smirk on Trouble’s face expanded to nearly a leer as he looked over Rexley and the way he was spread out before him and Trouble’s mind wandered off to fantasize about the prince in a pair of handcuffs. A part of him was still very upset with Rexley, but Trouble’s hormones were tantalized by the display in front of him and the fight pushed aside the caution that he’d exhibited since the attack.

 

Rexley caught the flash of heat in Trouble’s eyes, but dismissed it as nothing more than Trouble’s usual mischievous nature. Still, the return of any kind of light to Trouble’s eyes made Rexley happy and he sat back up on the small mattress. “That’s rather a leap in logic, wouldn’t you say?” he asked as he straightened out the wrinkles in his jacket and shirt and ran a hand through his mussed hair.

 

When Trouble refused to answer, only smiling more broadly in response, Rexley decided to respond in kind. “Fine, you maintain that my thinking is treasonous. Do you know what the penalty is on Regelence for Conspiracy against the Crown?”

 

Trouble’s grin faded as he considered that there might be a hole in his plan. Turning his head slightly, he looked at Rexley from the side of his vision through squinted eyes. “No,” he responded suspiciously. “What is it?”

 

“Death,” Rexley answered simply. He paused a moment to give Trouble a chance to think about what he’d said before he continued. “So, it seems to me that you have now put the Crown Prince at risk of death as well, which makes you equally guilty of Conspiracy. Shall we arrest each other?”

 

Rexley had tempered the end of his speech with a small grin and a wink and before long both men broke down laughing.

 

“Okay, fine,” Trouble relented as he caught his breath, “so you aren’t under arrest. I still think you’re being an idiot about this. There’s no way Hawk is gonna kill you over something we had no control over.”

 

Rexley nodded. “Perhaps not, Admiral Hawkins has a very pragmatic view of life. He is, however, still a father. Be that as it may, I will admit that I am guilty of at least one grievous error and I’m glad that you pointed it out.”

 

“I did,” Trouble asked curiously. “What’s that?”

 

“If I asked you to tell me your feelings about our betrothal, disregarding our present situation, would you do it? Could you do it?” Rexley asked.

 

Trouble looked at Rexley in the rapidly dimming light of their tiny hideaway and considered the question. “You mean, could I honestly tell you what I thought about it, say, on the way here today as opposed to now?”

 

Rexley nodded. “I should have asked you sooner, I suppose, but given what I’d heard, I thought I knew and I didn’t wish to force a confrontation on the issue. It wasn’t fair of me to assume, however, and so now I’d like you to tell me how you really feel. I don’t want you to tell me what you think I want to hear, Jeremy. I need to know the truth.”

 

Trouble looked down at his hands. It was a fair question and he understood why Rexley was asking. If he consented to the marriage here out of pity for Rexley, they would both be miserable. Trouble laughed at himself, _‘It would never get that far,’_ he thought. _‘I never have been able to lie in front of Rexley. Best to just be honest, I suppose.’_

 

Trouble moved up onto the small mattress and sat next to Rexley, putting his back against the wall and stretching his legs out in front of him. “I’ll admit. I was really pissed off when Hawk told me what our parents had done. I hate the idea of being… sold off like that. It’s crap. I’m a person. I should have the right to make my own choices, you know? It wasn’t anything personal. It was just how I felt at the time.”

 

Trouble paused a moment to look over at Rexley who had winced at the word ‘sold’, but the prince nodded and prompted him with a gesture to continue.

 

“I grew up on an IN ship. People there don’t get married. The lifestyle, it’s not really compatible. Hawk loves your brother Aiden a lot; otherwise I don’t think he’d ever have left the Lady Anna behind. That ship and its crew, they meant everything to him. They were his whole life… and mine too. People got together for a little while and then you moved on. The idea of being tied down to just one person is a little…”

 

“Overwhelming?” Rexley offered.

 

Trouble laughed wryly, “Yeah, a little. It might just be because I hadn’t really seen anybody live that way and be happy. Living here now with your family and watching Hawk and Aiden, I can see where being married could be nice too. It’s still kinda scary though.”

 

“I can only imagine,” Rexley replied. “My entire life has been clear to me since the day of my birth. To have your whole life uprooted, to have everything that you know change in a month’s time, it must be incredibly difficult to deal with.”

 

“But this had to be a surprise for you too,” Trouble fired back.

 

Rexley shook his head from side to side. “I knew I would have to marry someday. I wasn’t in any hurry, but I wasn’t afraid of it either. My parents were a great example to me of what love is so I knew that when I found someone who meant as much to me as my parents do to each other, I’d start my own family.”

 

“No, I mean your folks married for love. That’s what’s got us in this mess now. They got to make a choice to do what they wanted and even Hawk and Aiden had already made up their minds. They just had to do it a little faster than most people. We aren’t being given that choice.”

 

“And you hate being told what to do,” Rexley observed.

 

“Doesn’t it bug you?” Trouble countered. “I know you’re used to doing the proper thing and all, but you said yourself that you expected to find and choose your own husband. Doesn’t it make you mad? Don’t you want to marry someone that you love?”

 

Rexley turned away from Trouble and stared back at the wall in front of them. “Who says that I’m not?” he replied quietly.

 

Trouble stared at Rexley and his mouth hung open in shock. Rexley refused to meet Trouble’s eyes though and continued staring straight ahead. Eventually, Trouble turned away and looked across the room as well. Silence filled the room and the two sat side by side as the sun slowly sunk and the room became dark.

 

In the safe anonymity of the shadows, Rexley spoke up and asked Trouble, “Do you truly think that I’m so cold?”

 

“What?” Trouble questioned in response.

 

“The ‘Ice Prince’,” Rexley clarified. “Am I really that bad?”

 

Trouble blushed. He had referred to Rexley that way on the day his father had explained his heritage and engagement to him. It had been a bad day and Trouble had thrown plenty of barbed words around, most of which he hadn’t meant. “I’m sorry, Rexley, and no, I didn’t mean it. I was angry at the world that day and your brother had just pissed me off saying how bad I’d be for you.” Trouble paused a moment and tried to work out how Rexley even knew about his fight with Hawk. “Did Aiden tell you what I’d said?”

 

“No,” Rexley explained, “It was my other brothers and it was purely accidental. Muffin came to me that afternoon complaining that the boys were doing something in the study and had kicked her out when she wanted to play with them. When I walked into the room to see what was going on, I discovered that Payton had hacked into Jeffers and he, Colton, and Tarren were accessing Jeffers’ voice recordings from the hall outside your father’s suite. I’m sorry. I didn’t intend to eavesdrop, but…”

 

“It’s hard to walk away when you hear people talking about you,” Trouble said as he nodded in agreement. “It’s okay, I get it. I’d have done the same thing myself. I’m just sorry that you heard it.” Trouble paused and looked over at Rexley from the corner of his eye. “You know, when I first came here, I was pretending to be dad’s valet so I didn’t really get to know you or your brothers except for the little I got out of the staff.”

 

The corner of Rexley mouth turned up in a wry smile that didn’t reach his eyes. “That’s how you knew about ‘Lord Responsible’, I suppose.   The staff has pet names for each of us.” Trouble’s eyes went wide and Rexley continued. “Oh yes, we all know about them. Tarren is particularly proud of his as a matter of fact. I don’t mind mine so much, but it does bother me the way they talk about Muffin.”

 

“He would be,” Trouble said, chuckling, as he remembered the staff grumbling about ‘Lord Terror’. “My point, though, is that maybe you and your brothers should have listened in to the conversations that Hawk and I had after we first got here. I had a different opinion then,” Trouble said wiggling his eyebrows.

 

“Unless you were shouting it to the rooftops, I’m afraid there was little chance of my having caught wind of it. The boys could only get what you said that day because Jeffers wasn’t told to soundproof the discussion and the sound carried outside the room. Jeffers doesn’t record inside the suites.” Rexley ducked his head to the side and looked at Trouble curiously. “You said something about me after you arrived? You just said that you didn’t know me.”

 

“I didn’t know you, but I’m not blind.” Trouble’s grin stretched across his face. “You have a very attractive family.”

 

“Oh,” Rexley said quietly as he comprehended Trouble’s words.

 

“Would you like to know exactly what I said about you?” Trouble leaned to the side and mischievously asked his fiancé in a breathy whisper.

 

Rexley’s eyes shifted to the side where Trouble was leaning too close for comfort and swallowed audibly. “Well, I did ask you to be honest,” the prince replied in words that were more matter of fact than he felt.

 

Trouble leaned even closer so that his lips now touched Rexley’s ear and he said softly, “I said that you had a nice ass.”

 

Rexley shivered at both the words and the feeling of Trouble’s lips against his ear. “Th-that’s… good,” he stuttered in response and gripped his hands together tightly. “What I mean to say is… that I’m relieved to hear that you don’t find me… repugnant.”

 

Trouble sat back and stared at his fiancé in shock. “Repugnant?” He repeated with a mixture of disbelief and amusement in his tone. “Are you kidding me? I’d have pounced you that day if Hawk hadn’t told me in no uncertain terms that you guys were strictly hands off unless you were married.”

 

Rexley knew that he was blushing, his cheeks burned with the effect Trouble’s words were having on him and hoped that the heavy shadows in the room blocked out the color on his face. “I see,” Rexley answered, not sure how to respond to what was likely meant as a compliment. “Thank you,” he added softly, not wanting to offend Trouble or seem ungrateful.

 

Trouble watched Rexley’s profile in the dim light. He could no longer make out details of the prince’s expression, but the man’s body language spoke of unhappiness that Trouble didn’t understand. “What’s wrong?”

 

Rexley shook his head and eased down onto the small mattress facing away from Trouble. “Nothing is wrong,” he answered unconvincingly. “We should probably get some sleep while we can. They may try to find a way in here tomorrow morning when the light is back. Try to rest if you can.” Pulling open his own blanket, Rexley covered himself and feigned sleep.

 

Trouble stared at the back of Rexley’s head in confusion and wondered what had just happened. Eventually, Trouble gave up thinking about it and turned his focus to trying to ward the room. With only the two of them, they needed to attempt to blockade themselves somehow or set up watches. With Rexley already trying to sleep and Trouble unsure what was wrong, the young man opted for the first route.

 

Rolling off the mattress and shrugging off his blanket, Trouble crawled across the room on his hands and knees until he found the two small trunks. Carefully, he shifted both, sliding them as quietly as possible out of the room and pushed them down the narrow hallway to the entrance of the crawlspace after removing some of the contents. He then positioned the small metal soldiers behind the trunks as makeshift caltrops and added a few of the empty ceramic mugs filled with his late father’s rock collection at the end of the hall for good measure. Trouble thought the debris might slow the gunmen down, or at least make enough noise that one of them would be alerted and wake up if the criminals tried to enter their small sanctuary. When he was satisfied that he’d done as much as he could, Trouble returned to the small mattress, laid the fragger next to his head for easy retrieval, and stretched out on the remaining space unoccupied by Rexley.

 

Trouble thought about forgoing the blanket and using it as a pillow instead, but ultimately the room was too cold and he sat up long enough to spread it out over the length of his body. Now that he was no longer occupied with other things or moving around, Trouble could tell that Rexley’s breathing was far too quiet, far too controlled, to indicate sleep. Not knowing what else to say, Trouble whispered, “Wake me when you get tired,” before rolling over to face the opening to the crawlspace and closing his eyes.

 

Rexley heard Trouble moving around the room and peeked over his shoulder at one point, watching the young man set up their meager defenses through moonlit shadows. Trouble’s quietly whispered request for watches nearly prompted the prince to speech, but Rexley had no idea what to say. Nothing had changed between them. He was glad to hear that Trouble enjoyed his company and found him attractive, but nothing the young man had told him indicated that his feelings on marriage had altered and Rexley was still Crown Prince of Regelence.

 

When Trouble’s breathing changed and Rexley was certain he was asleep, the prince rolled slowly onto his back and watched his fiancé. It was a guilty pleasure to observe the young man in such an unguarded moment and Rexley turned away suddenly ashamed. It somehow felt too intimate to watch Trouble sleep. It was the sort of picture that normally men of Regelence would only have of their spouses and the fact of their betrothal did nothing to ease Rexley’s guilty feelings. The small windows overhead let in the dim light of a half moon and the fresh air of the countryside around Hedge Row lured Rexley into calmer and more hopeful thoughts.

 

Rexley allowed himself to daydream for a moment about a happy ending between the two of them, a future in which the pair married and moved to Hedge Row. The prince smiled as he thought of lazy summer nights sleeping next to Trouble and the cool evening breezes, fragrant with the scent of night-blooming flowers, coming in through large open windows. Before his father, Steven, had assumed the throne on the death of Rexley’s grandfather, Steven and Raleigh had frequently taken the children on outings to many places on Regelence and Rexley remembered the trips fondly. He tried to imagine how children he and Trouble might have would look. In his mind’s eye, Rexley pictured boys with various mixes of his straight black hair, amber eyes and features, and Trouble’s platinum blond curls and aquamarine eyes. Of course, there would also have to be an older version of Muffin nearby herding her younger brothers along and Rexley’s smile widened at the thought of how his ward might look as she grew up.

 

A movement to his side distracted Rexley from his daydream and he became aware of Trouble shivering underneath his blanket. Rexley sat up and looked around before remembering that they had only the two blankets between them. As he pulled the blanket off of himself and tried to drape it over his sleeping fiancé, Trouble woke up.

 

“What’cha doin’?” he asked dozily.

 

“You’re cold,” Rexley observed as he wrestled with the heavy wool.

 

Trouble pushed Rexley away and untangled his own blanket. “You can’t just give me your blanket, you’ll freeze. Let’s just share both of them.”

 

Rexley stopped fighting Trouble and sat still in the darkness. “I’m not sure that’s such a good idea, Jeremy.”

 

“Oh, for Galaxy’s sake, Rexley, are you really that worried that I’m gonna jump you?” Trouble was tired, cold, and exasperated. The combination of physical danger coupled with the emotional upheaval had left him snappy.

 

Rexley sighed and struggled to his feet. The injury to his leg protested, but the prince persisted and eventually managed to stand. “Jeremy, hand both blankets to me would you?”

 

Trouble’s annoyance fled at the sound of Rexley’s voice and he handed both blankets to Rexley who spread them out evenly, one atop the other, before pulling back his side and joining Trouble underneath.

 

Trouble leaned on one elbow and looked down at Rexley next to him. “I don’t get it,” he voiced his confusion.

 

Rexley reached out with his right arm and pulled Trouble into his side. “Come here,” he ordered softly. Once Trouble curled up next to him and stopped squirming, Rexley folded his left arm behind his head as a pillow. “Is that better?” he asked.

 

Trouble nodded. “I still don’t get it though. First you say it’s not a good idea and now…” Trouble looked up towards Rexley’s profile from the shoulder he was using as a pillow.

 

“Just go to sleep, Jeremy. You should be warmer now and I’ll keep watch for a while,” Rexley offered.

 

Trouble settled back into Rexley’s shoulder and inched closer to his partner’s body heat, but thoughts of sleep had deserted him as he felt the hard muscle under his chin and caught the prince’s scent. “Mmm,” Trouble hummed, suddenly content.

 

“Jeremy,” Rexley repeated, a note of alarm in his voice. “Go to sleep.”

 

“Don’t wanna,” Trouble said. His voice was muffled by Rexley’s chest, but the prince heard him clearly. Trouble’s hands wandered, his undamaged left one working its way under Rexley’s back and the fabric covered right hand over his chest so that Trouble was hugging his fiancé under the blankets. When Trouble started bringing his leg up and over Rexley’s legs, the prince grabbed Trouble’s wrist below the makeshift bandage and managed to, at least, halt the wandering hand.

 

“Stop,” he ordered sharply.

 

Trouble snickered and continued to run his foot up the inside of Rexley’s leg until his knee brushed over the prince’s groin, bumping a very prominent erection. “Are you sure you want me to stop?” Trouble teased.

 

Rexley maintained his grip on Trouble’s wrist and drew the injured hand gently up to his lips. Softly, the prince kissed Trouble’s palm around the edge of his own cravat and then turned the small hand to cradle his cheek, covering it with his much larger one. “Please listen to me,” Rexley begged.

 

Trouble immediately sobered and stopped moving. He’d wanted to tease Rexley, turn the man on a little. Rexley always seemed so perfectly in control and it was tempting to see if he could break that control a little. It made Trouble feel powerful and desirable to know that he’d at least managed to arouse the prince, but the note of anguish in Rexley’s voice was not what he’d wanted or expected to hear.

 

Rexley took a deep breath and tried to gather his wits. Trouble had set his hormones raging and it was difficult to string words together. “It isn’t that I don’t want you, Jeremy. I do want you, probably more than you can understand, but I cannot do this; not here, not now, not like this.”

 

Trouble heard the sincerity in the words and felt the body under his tremble slightly. Rexley’s admission that he was wanted made Trouble feel happy, but he still didn’t understand. “Because we aren’t married?” he guessed.

 

With his hand pressed onto Rexley’s cheek, he could feel the prince nod before the spoken answer came. “Yes, Jeremy.”

 

“But we’re alone here,” Trouble protested. “No one would ever know unless we told them and we’re not hurting anyone. We might not even make it out of here alive so why shouldn’t we if we want to?”

 

“Oh, Jeremy,” Rexley sighed. “It isn’t about anyone else knowing. I would know and so would you.”

 

“I don’t get it,” Trouble said shaking his head. “You know I want to and I can tell that you do, so what does it matter that we know? Of course we’d know. I don’t care.”

 

“You should care, Jeremy. It’s important. You are important,” Rexley said before leaning forward and kissing Trouble’s forehead.

 

“This hang up you people have about virginity and stuff. I don’t know about all this. You’re all so gung ho to get married and then what, you’re stuck chained to somebody until you die. Then what, do you remarry? Your consort won’t be a virgin then, will they? So what’s the big deal?” Trouble spat out the words, frustrated with not understanding and yanked his hand out of Rexley’s grip and away from his fiancé’s face.

 

Rexley let go of Trouble’s hand, but continued to hold the angry young man tight against his side. “I know that with all the rules and customs concerning propriety, it seems as though virginity is all that matters, but there is more to it. It’s about respect, Jeremy. We shield the innocent from being used and tossed aside because we believe that our young men have a greater worth than a moment of gratification.” Rexley paused to tuck the blankets closer around Trouble’s neck and shoulders. “I know that you had a life before you came to Regelence and I know that your society doesn’t share the same views that ours does, but I’ve never asked you if you’ve been with anyone before. Do you know why?”

 

Trouble cocked his head to the side. “No, you haven’t asked. I guess I just figured you either assumed I hadn’t because that’s the way things are here or assumed I had and you didn’t want to know if you were being forced to take on damaged goods.”

 

Rexley shook his head in the darkness and sighed. “No, Jeremy, I didn’t ask because in the end, it doesn’t matter. It would make me very happy if we married and I was your first and only, but I certainly wouldn’t think less of you if I weren’t. What is important to me is the commitment, Jeremy, and what I can give to you. You deserve a marriage contract and a marriage bed and stability, not some filthy mattress in a secret room, freezing and fearing for your life. You deserve to be loved for a lifetime, not just one night.”

 

Rexley gently retrieved Trouble’s hand and replaced it over his heart before putting both his arms around Trouble’s shoulders. The two men laid quietly side by side as the minutes passed and eventually Rexley dozed off.

 

Trouble laid awake for a time thinking over Rexley’s words and realizing that the prince had a greater value for him than he had for himself. No one except for Hawk had ever shown Trouble that kind of love and it made him feel special. “You really do love me, don’t you?” Trouble wondered aloud. Trouble chuckled softly into Rexley’s side and whispered, “You have no idea what it is you’re getting yourself into. You should be the one trying to get an annulment, not me.”

 

Rexley gave Trouble’s shoulders a soft squeeze that let Trouble know he’d been overheard. “I think by now I have a pretty good idea what I’m getting into and I’m not going anywhere.”

 

Trouble looked up and wished he could make out the details of Rexley’s face, but all he saw was shadows. Leaning up on one elbow, he looked down and saw a reflection of the moonlight where Rexley’s eyes were. “Okay,” he said simply.

 

“Okay?” Rexley repeated, not understanding.

 

“Okay, if you’re sure you know what you’re doing, let’s get married,” Trouble explained.

 

Rexley didn’t answer right away, but Trouble could see that he was awake and looking up at him. “Sleep on it,” he finally suggested. “When this is all over, when our parents come to find us and we’re safe, then decide. Alright?”

 

Trouble laid down obediently and nestled into Rexley’s side as before, but without the wandering hands and leg. “I’ll sleep on it, but I’m not gonna change my mind.”

 

With Trouble settled and no longer looking down at him, Rexley indulged in a smile and thought to himself, _‘I hope not.’_

 

***

 

As the sun set behind the royal palace, Steven tried unsuccessfully to make contact with the caretaker’s communications unit and Raleigh searched for the location of the lift via the tracking device while Nate paced a hole in the carpet.

 

“Still no answer?” Nate asked Steven as the king punched the abort key on the link in frustration.

 

Steven shook his head to indicate no before calling Jeffers. “Jeffers, please retrieve the last message we have from the boys.”

 

Jeffers played the incoming call the household system had received from William which was time-stamped three hours earlier.

 

“And there’s been nothing else from William, Haverty or either of the boys since?” he pressed.

 

“No, Your Majesty, there has not,” Jeffers confirmed.

 

“Got it,” Raleigh called as he found the coordinates of the tracking device and plotted the numbers onto a map. “What the hell is it doing there?”

 

Steven and Nate crowded around Raleigh’s terminal to see what had prompted the outburst and saw that the lift was stationary at a location well away from the roads to the castle and only forty minutes from the spaceport.

 

Steven went pale as he looked at the map and remembered the area. “That stretch of road has a sheer drop on one side.”

 

While Raleigh tried to glean more information from the tracking report, Steven rushed to contact royal security and arrange for a lift and Nate contacted the spaceport to request volunteers for a search team from the available IN ships in port; adding a demand to suspend all outbound traffic until further notice.

 

Nate snapped off the communications unit and turned to Raleigh. “Ready to go?” he asked.

 

Raleigh instructed Jeffers to transfer all the pertinent data to the unit in the lift and started for the door.

 

Steven met the two men there with their cloaks.

 

“You’re going with us?” Nate asked.

 

“Try to stop me,” Steven challenged with steel in his voice. “My son is missing too.”

 

Nate started to protest that it would be safer for him to go alone with Raleigh, but the King-Consort stopped him with a hand to Hawkins’ arm. “I’ve already tried, Nate. I’ll keep him safe, but it’s a waste of time to try to get him to stay behind.”

 

Nate nodded, understanding Steven’s feelings. There were times when an Admiral was expected to stay behind and let his troops do the work, but not when it was his son who was missing and he couldn’t expect Steven to feel any differently, not even as the king.

 

The location indicated by the tracker was only about an hour’s trip away from the palace, but the time felt like an eternity to the three fathers and the journey was made in silence, each man keeping his own counsel. When they arrived, the search was obviously already underway and a lieutenant from the IN frigate Lord Wells met Nate to brief him.

 

“Admiral Hawkins, sir,” the lieutenant addressed Nate as he snapped to attention. “Search equipment has located a lift at the bottom of the ravine, and a rescue team is currently in the process of making its way down to the crash site.”

 

Nate’s stomach sank as the lieutenant spoke, but he managed to reply, “Very well, Lieutenant. Carry on,” and answered the man’s salute as he left.

 

Walking slowly back to the royal lift, Nate braced himself to pass the news to Steven and Raleigh. He needn’t have worried. Raleigh took one look at Nate’s face and guessed.

 

“They found the lift at the bottom of the cliff, didn’t they?” he asked grimly.

 

Nate nodded.

 

“Any survivors,” Steven forced himself to ask.

 

“They haven’t reached it yet. The team found it, but they are still maneuvering the personnel down into the area.” Nate paused and looked back where the lights and command center were being set up. He had to remind himself that there was still hope for his son and for Rexley. He couldn’t break down. Turning back to Steven, Nate said, “I’ll let you know when there’s any news,” before excusing himself and returning to shadow the lieutenant in charge.

 

Steven and Raleigh watched Nate head off before closing the doors to the lift and giving themselves some privacy. The King and the King-Consort were symbols to the people of Regelence, but they were also fathers and the thought of losing their son, their first born, was bringing both men close to breaking down.

 

Nate cornered the lieutenant he’d spoken with when he first arrived. “Lieutenant…” he paused and checked the man’s uniform, “Koss. Does the search team have a camera to transmit back to a monitor topside?”

 

“Yes, sir they do. Does this mean someone is available to identify the occupants?”

 

Nate reminded himself that the lieutenant likely answered the dispatch without knowing anything and held his temper in check. “The lift belongs to the royal family, Lieutenant Koss and at last report my son was riding inside. Do you have any other questions?”

 

Lieutenant Koss blanched. “Sir, no sir,” he answered as trained, but his voice shook. “I’ll contact you as soon as we have a camera in position and broadcasting.”

 

Nate nodded and waved the poor man away before he said anything else and then paced the edge of the cliff. He found himself missing Aiden and wishing he was here to hold, but he hadn’t wanted Aiden to suffer the possible blow of losing both his step son and a brother in public. Nate felt protective of his young husband even at the cost of his own comfort.

 

Time dragged on and Steven and Raleigh eventually left the coach to find Nate. “I know you said you’d let us know,” Steven began.

 

Nate led Steven to a trunk that had held rescue equipment and gestured for him to sit. Raleigh knelt beside his husband and held his hand.

 

“They have camera equipment with the search team. When they arrive at the bottom, they’ll be able to broadcast a signal to us so that we can see who’s inside the lift,” Nate explained.

 

Raleigh nodded as Steven dropped his head and looked at his knees.

 

“Admiral Hawkins?”

 

Nate looked up to see Lieutenant Koss calling to him and gesturing to a large monitor set up on one of the benches. Steven stood up.

 

“Steven,” Nate started, “you don’t need to do this. I can look at the images and let you know.”

 

Steven smiled and reached out for Nate’s hand even as Raleigh shook his head to disagree. “It’s kind of you to offer, Nate, but I think all three of us need to be there, don’t you?”

 

Solemnly, the three men made their way to the viewing screen and Lieutenant Koss turned the monitor on. “I should probably warn you, your majesties, Admiral, that the team said… there are no survivors.”

 

Nate nodded and the lieutenant moved away from the screen. Immediately, the image of Haverty was visible and Nate heard Steven gasp. As the camera panned to the tutor, William, Nate tried to brace himself for what would likely come next. From the edge of his vision, he could see Raleigh move behind Steven to hold and support him. They would need each other as never before if Rexley was on board and had died. For himself, Nate refused to believe that his son was gone and as the camera picked up the image of Jones, a total stranger to him, Nate stood a little straighter and moved closer to the monitor. When Burleigh’s form came into view, Nate took a breath.

 

“This is all four of them, right?” he asked Lieutenant Koss.

 

“Yes, sir, there are only four passengers,” the young officer answered.

 

Nate turned back to Steven and Raleigh. “They aren’t there.”

 

“But that is Haverty and William, so what could have happened and who are the other two?” Steven asked.

 

“Did you notice, Nate,” Raleigh asked. “That looks more like a fragger mark than any trauma from a crash.” Raleigh pointed to a mark on William’s chest as the man’s body came into view once more.

 

Nate studied the image and nodded. “Lieutenant Koss, can your team tell if those marks came from a fragger?”

 

Koss relayed the question to the searchers and came back a moment later. “Yes sir, it looks as though all four show signs of having been in a fire fight.” Koss paused a moment. “Begging the Admiral’s pardon, sir, but does this mean that your son was not one of the passengers?”

 

Nate looked down at the nervous officer and nodded.

 

Koss breathed a sigh of relief. “I’m glad to hear that, sir. This wasn’t the right lift then?”

 

“No, Lieutenant, it was the right lift and we know two of the four men, the other two passengers who should have been on board are still missing.” Nate turned back to Steven and Raleigh. “This road is a nearly straight shot from the spaceport to Hedge Row, right?”

 

Raleigh nodded. “Very nearly. The estate itself is a bit out of the way, but this road goes nearest to it and from here directly into the spaceport.”

 

“So we search the road,” Steven guessed, “but do we look to the spaceport or back towards Hedge Row?”

 

“I’ve got the spaceport locked down, but I can’t keep it that way for long without causing problems,” Nate commented. “I’ve got to start there, but I can handle that myself if you want to go the other way.”

 

Search teams were outfitted with life sign scanners and sent out. From inside the lifts, the range of the scanners was limited so the choice was either to drive quickly to the estate and hope the boys were within a few feet of the road or travel slowly and make a more extensive search by fanning out into the woods along the road on foot. In the dark, a visual search was impossible and so the slow trip to Hedge Row began.

 

Back at the spaceport, Nate started a facial recognition search program, but no one passed through the port authority in range of security cameras who bore any resemblance to either Trouble or Rexley. Starting with the next five ships due to leave port, security used life sign scanners to verify crew and passengers and allowed the ships to leave. Nate made a note of all ships that had left port for the four hours prior to the lockdown, but ultimately came up empty in the search and released the port to continue full operation.

 

Nate contacted the palace. “Jeffers, could you please contact their majesties’ lift for me?”

 

“Yes, sir,” the computerized butler answered.

 

Steven’s face appeared on the view screen. “Nate, did you find them?”

 

“No,” Nate answered, “and I’m guessing you haven’t either since you’re asking.”

 

“No,” Steven sighed. “Raleigh’s out coordinating the searchers. It’s slow going since we’ve only got life sign scanners and a few lights to work with, but we’re nearly back to the estate, maybe another hour or so.”

 

“There’s nothing more that I can do from here, so I’ll grab a lift and join the two of you. They might have managed to get away from whoever took the lift back at the mansion and if they’re hiding on the grounds then Trouble probably has it turned into a fortress by now,” Nate said with a smile.

 

Steven chuckled softly. “Thank you, Nate. I needed that desperately. We’ll see you shortly at Hedge Row,” he said in farewell and then broke off the transmission.

 

“Nate’s on his way here,” Raleigh asked as he stepped into the lift, having caught the tail end of his husband’s conversation.

 

Steven nodded. “He just called from the spaceport. There no sign of them there so he’s coming here. He suggested that we might need his help if Jeremy has fortified the estate by now.”

 

Raleigh smiled. “That boy is definitely resourceful enough to try it.” He paused and put a hand on Steven’s knee. “Trouble is smart, Steven, and he has the heart of a lion and our son is no slouch either. Rexley is clever and quick and has good instincts. If they managed to escape, and the fact that they weren’t in that lift is a positive sign, their chances are good. Believe in them.”

 

Steven took a deep breath and let it out slowly before nodding. “No news is good news, right?”

 

***

 

Nate met up with the rest of the search party just as the group arrived at the outskirts of Hedge Row. It was still half an hour before sunrise, but the night sky was visibly brightening as the horizon moved closer and closer to the rays of the sun.

 

The broken glass of the first floor windows was visible even in the dim, early light and the guard dogs left behind to search for Trouble and Rexley barked madly from inside the structure as the team spread out in front of the building.

 

Raleigh deployed an armed team to the outbuildings and the caretaker’s cottage while he and Nate peered carefully through the broken front windows of the main house. As Nate scanned the room, one of the dogs launched at him through the sparse remains of a smashed window. The dog’s momentum carried him past Nate, who had stepped quickly to the side, but left him on the gravel path where the trained beast caught sight of Steven, unarmed and unaware, and it charged. Raleigh screamed a warning to his husband, took aim, and fired, bringing the dog down inches from Steven’s feet.

 

Nate cursed at having let the dog get past him and get so close to Steven. Raleigh moved back to Steven’s side and Nate raised the sash and crawled through the window trying to draw the other rapidly approaching canines to himself. As each dog came into view, Nate tagged them with his fragger set to a high stun. It was possible that stunning might not work on such large and aggressive dogs, but if the boys were on the grounds, Nate was taking no chances with a stray fragger blast. As he stunned one of the dogs, Nate caught sight of a dark traveling cloak on the floor, torn to shreds by claws and fangs and he froze.

 

The sound of a fragger discharging behind him snapped Nate out of his stupor and made the admiral spin around just in time to see Raleigh bring down a fifth dog who’d managed to flank Nate while he was distracted.

 

“Thank you,” Nate whispered as he walked toward the destroyed overcoat. “Sorry about Steven. Is he okay?”

 

“He’s fine,” Raleigh said with a smile as he watched Nate walk away. “He never even saw the dog coming at him. I’m sure Aiden gets his inattentiveness from him.”

 

Nate stooped and picked up the bits of tattered wool and fingered them with growing worry. The coat could have belonged to anyone, but it looked suspiciously like the one he’d watched Rexley hand to his son the previous morning. “That’s funny,” Nate tried to joke in response as he dropped the coat and turned around. “Aiden thinks of it as being overly focused on his art and blames you for that quality.”

 

Eventually, after searching the outbuildings, the security personnel reconvened in the driveway to present their findings. Having searched through the rest of the vast entry room and found no other signs of the boys than the shredded coat, Nate and Raleigh exited the house and rejoined Steven where he stood with his guards.

 

“We’ve checked the carriage house and the barns, your majesty. We found one man dead at the house. He has a fragger burn on his forehead and a weapon in his right hand. We’ve also discovered a dog pen and the remnants of a drug lab set up in the barn.” Raleigh watched his husband as he listened to the guard’s report. Steven was staring at the roof and tilting his head to the side curiously, but made no response to the waiting sergeant.

 

“Yes, thank you, Billings. No sign of anyone else on the grounds?” Raleigh asked.

 

“No, sir,” the senior guard answered.

 

“All right then. Keep one or two of your people here on watch and then deploy the rest of your troops through the main house for a room by room search, weapons on stun. Remember, the Crown Prince and Lord Winstol are still missing, be sure of what you shoot,” Raleigh warned.

 

The guards saluted and set off while Raleigh and Nate walked closer to Steven.

 

“Okay, what is it, Steven,” Raleigh asked. “You’ve been staring at the roofline for nearly five minutes now.”

 

The rising sun made the odd angles of the roof and its strangely shaped gables even more pronounced and Raleigh and Nate looked up at them.

 

“Unusual, I grant you,” Nate allowed, “but what does the bizarre architecture have to do with our sons.

 

“It’s the sort of thing Rexley would love,” Steven replied absently.

 

“Wait a minute. Didn’t Rexley say he wanted to show Trouble ‘typical Regelence architecture’?” Raleigh asked.

 

“Exactly,” answered Steven. “So then why would he choose to show this rather atypical mansion in particular to Trouble?”

 

“There was something here Rexley himself wanted to see,” Raleigh responded.

 

“That’s my thought,” Steven voiced, “and I’m betting it has something to do with that unusual roofline.”

 

Nate looked back and forth between Raleigh and Steven as the pair spoke, but moved into action now. “Fourth floor, then?” he asked as he sprinted for the open window.

 

Raleigh and Steven nodded and took off behind him. Keeping Steven safely in the middle, Raleigh lead the way and Nate brought up the rear, both keeping their fraggers in hand and staying alert to possible dangers. A quick search of the other bedrooms on the fourth floor had yielded nothing and as the trio stood in the last remaining room after calling out their sons’ names, Nate started to lose hope until a familiar curse reached his ears.

 

“Trouble, is that you?” Nate shouted, unsure where the voice had come from. The sound was followed by a crash and then an odd scratching noise and Nate followed the source to one of the walls. “Trouble, where the hell are you, brat?”

 

A muffled but familiar voice called out, “I’m in here, Hawk. Hold on a sec’.”

 

The noise faded and repeated and then the three men could hear a bolt being thrown behind the wall which moved away to reveal a very dirty looking Rexley on his hands and knees.

 

Steven dove to the ground and hugged his son. “Rexley, are you alright?” he asked as he ran his hands over his son’s face.

 

“I’m fine, Father, really. Jeremy is behind me though and would like to get out and see his own father if we could move out of the doorway.” Steven released the tight grip he had on his son and moved aside to allow Rexley to crawl the rest of the way out of the narrow passage. Pain throbbing in his injured leg, Rexley sat on the floor once he was out of the way and leaned against the wall. The way now clear, Trouble wasted no time, scurrying out of the tight crawlspace and hopping directly into Nate’s waiting arms.

 

“Damn you, boy,” Nate cursed as he hugged his son. “Stop scaring me like that.”

 

Raleigh joined Steven and Rexley on the floor and caught sight of Rexley’s bandaged leg. “What happened?” Raleigh started to examine the injury, but stopped when Rexley flinched.

 

“Fragger caught him in the leg,” Trouble answered, pointing with his own bandaged hand. “I did the best I could, but it looks nasty.”

 

Raleigh nodded at Trouble’s hand. “Caught one of your own, too, Jeremy?” Raleigh asked.

 

Trouble shrugged. “Just a flash burn, nothing too bad. Rexley wrapped it up for me and it’ll be fine.”

 

“That’s your expert opinion, is it?” Nate growled as he lifted Trouble’s hand and examined the makeshift bandage. “You’ll pardon me if I ask a doctor to confirm your diagnosis when we get home, won’t you?”

 

“If you have to,” Trouble countered, rolling his eyes for effect and then spoiling it by hugging his father again. “Man, am I glad to see you guys. I guess we missed the big firefight.”

 

“You mean the guard dogs?” Raleigh asked, confusion on his face.

 

“No, there were at least three more of those guys left after the first two jumped us downstairs. Haverty stayed behind and held them off so that Rexley and I could get away and hide.” Trouble paused. “I don’t suppose Haverty made it, did he?” he asked softly.

 

“No, son, I’m sorry he didn’t,” Steven answered. “We found him and William and two others in your lift at the bottom of a ravine on the way to the space port.”

 

“You said there were others,” Raleigh asked Trouble.

 

A visibly shaken Trouble nodded. “I didn’t get a good look at them, but there were three of them coming up the paths to the house after Jim and Ben jumped us by the front door.”

 

Raleigh turned back to his eldest son. “Did you see them?”

 

Rexley shook his head to indicate that he did not. “I’m sorry, Cony. I only ever saw the two that came with Mr. Reddling and ourselves on the house tour.” Rexley paused as he tallied another failure in his self assessment. “So these men… they were gone when you arrived?”

 

Nate looked at Rexley’s grim face. “Your father activated the tracker on the lift when you didn’t arrive on time and they’d already ditched it over the cliff. That’s why it took us so long to find you. We weren’t sure exactly where you were. We went to the crash site first, then I checked the space port while your fathers made their way here, searching with life sign scanners.”

 

“I see,” Rexley responded quietly. Turning to face Trouble, Rexley chuckled darkly. “I’m sorry, Jeremy. It seems I lead you up here for nothing. All this time we’ve been hiding, there was no one here.”

 

Trouble squirmed out of Nate’s hold and knelt next to his fiancé. “Don’t you dare start second guessing yourself again, Rexley. It was brilliant the way you figured out where this room was and if we’d been easier to find, they might have stuck around to finish us off. We’re alive and safe and it’s over now and that’s all that matters.”

 

Before Rexley had a chance to respond, Steven chimed in. “So you found one of the Summers’ infamous secret rooms?”

 

Rexley nodded, but remained silent.

 

“Really,” Nate asked.

 

“Yeah, it’s cool, Hawk. Wanna see?” Trouble got back down on his hands and knees and started back through the hole in the wall, leading the way.

 

Nate looked over to Steven and Raleigh who were fighting not to laugh at Trouble’s antics.

 

“Your son certainly doesn’t let anything keep him down for long,” Raleigh offered with a laugh.

 

“Go ahead,” Steven said with a wave of his hand. “We’ll get Rexley down the stairs and meet you at the lifts.”

 

Nate nodded and watched as the King and King-Consort wrapped their son’s arms over their shoulders and helped him to stand on one leg before half carrying him out of the room. As they disappeared around the corner, Nate heard Trouble’s voice calling for him to hurry up.

 

“Come on already, Hawk. You gotta see this.” Trouble’s voice was muffled by the walls, but was still audible from the opening.

 

Getting down onto his hands and feet, Nate crawled through the dust down the small, cramped corridor and made the turn into the tiny room.

 

Trouble had cleared all the debris he’d used to block the hallway and it sat pushed to one side of the opening to the room.

 

“What is all this junk?” Nate asked as he struggled to rise to a crouched height in the small space and saw the pile.

 

“I guess my father had these trunks in here when he used to live at Hedge Row. They had some blankets and toys and junk. I used the trunks and stones and toys to block the entrance tunnel there in case the bad guys figured out how to get in.” Trouble paused and watched as Nate looked over the rest of the room, finally focusing on the blanket covered bed.

 

“I was really lucky to have Rexley with me, Hawk. He found this place for us to hide in and even if the other three guys had stayed, I think we’d have been fine. I had a fragger that Haverty gave me and there’s no way they’d have gotten in here without us knowing and the hallway’s only big enough for one guy at a time.” Trouble leaned forward as he spoke, trying to get Nate to make eye contact.

 

“The bed’s not much bigger,” Nate shot back, still staring at the rumpled blankets and Rexley’s cloak spread out over the surface of the small mattress.

 

“We had light and fresh air through these,” Trouble stated with false cheer as he waved a hand in the direction of the small ceiling windows. “Rexley showed me where to find the lever after we bandaged each other up.” Trouble paused. “It got pretty cold last night though, so we broke out the blankets rather than risk shutting the window.”

 

Finally Nate turned and looked Trouble straight in the eye. “Trouble, is there something you want to tell me?” he asked, his voice suddenly sounding gruff.

 

“Nothing happened, Hawk,” Trouble answered, standing straighter and with an indignant expression on his face. “Don’t tell me you’re gonna buy in to all this Regelence stuff too? Poor Rexley thinks you’re gonna kill him just because we were locked in here without a chaperone.”

 

“I’m not going to kill Rexley,” Nate answered and took a deep breath. “He’s the one of you being sensible. He’ll propose and you’ll reject him. You’re the one I’m going to have to hold at fragger point to ever get down the aisle.”

 

Trouble sat heavily on the old mattress and shook his head. “I don’t think that’s gonna work, Hawk. Rexley was explaining more to me about how strict the rules and stuff are last night and it wasn’t good. He thinks he’s backing me into a corner and that I’d just be agreeing to save his life. He was talking about letting you call him out for a duel rather than see me forced to marry him and he’d just let you kill him. It’s nuts.” Trouble sighed. “I think I talked him out of it, but honestly, I’m not sure. He had that weird look again when we left here and he heard that the other three guys had actually taken off last night.”

 

Nate watched his son’s body language as he spoke and some of the tension he’d felt since he entered the room left him. “You really care about him, don’t you?”

 

Trouble nodded and hung his head. “I don’t know what to do, Hawk. I’m really confused. I like him… a lot. I do. I just… marriage…”

 

“Do you love him?” Nate asked bluntly.

 

Trouble looked up at the man who’d been his only family for seven years and shrugged. “Maybe… probably… I guess so. I don’t know, Hawk.”

 

“Okay, do you trust him?” Nate asked.

 

Trouble nodded.

 

“Do you trust him with your life? Do you trust him as much as you trust me?” Nate pressed.

 

Trouble cocked his head to the side. “It’s not the same, but, yeah, I suppose so.”

 

“Do you enjoy spending time with him? Do you want to be with him more than anyone else?” Nate continued to question his son.

 

Trouble smiled up at his father. “Yeah, I do. He listens to me, you know? And even when he’s showing me how to do something, he’s not condescending or anything. He’s smart without being a jerk and he’s really nice.” Trouble’s grin reached his twinkling eyes. “And he’s not exactly hard on the eyes either.”

 

“Okay, that’s enough,” Nate interrupted. Admiral Hawkins took a deep breath and held a hand down to help his son up. “Look at me.” He waited until Trouble looked him in the face before he continued. “I know you were angry about this at first and, I admit, it irritated me too, but I can see how you two get along. You’re good for each other, Jeremy and in a few years you’ll make a good couple. Don’t make a mistake over this because you let your pride get the best of you.”

 

Trouble’s eyes went wide when his father called him by his given name. Nate seldom did that unless he was deadly serious. “You’ve got it wrong, Hawk. I’m not saying that I won’t go along with the engagement. I’m willing to marry him now if I have to. Well, I’m willing to try, anyway, but we don’t have years to wait like you want. Rexley says that it will get out sooner or later that we were alone here and that the proposal of marriage contract we already have isn’t good enough to keep us out of trouble. I don’t know, I suppose he knows best about that kind of stuff. The problem is, I think he’s gonna refuse to go along with gettin’ hitched out of some noble gesture to save me from myself and I don’t know how to convince him that it’s alright. Just do me a favor and let me do the talking. Oh, and promise me you won’t kill him, okay?”

 

Nate stood dumbfounded and stared at Trouble. “Let you handle it, huh?”

 

Trouble nodded. “Please,” he asked.

 

“Alright, I’ll let you deal with this up to a point,” Trouble started to interrupt, but Nate held up a finger to stop him. “I will let you handle this for now, but I don’t want either one of you to get hurt over this and you need to keep me in the loop as to what your plans are. Are we agreed?”

 

“Yep,” Trouble assured his father. “I’ll let you know, promise.”

 

“I still think you’re way too young for this, Trouble, but we’ll talk about it more once you’ve worked it out with Rexley.” Nate paused, “Was that it?” he asked as Trouble wandered away and around the perimeter of the small room. “Are you ready to take off now?”

 

“Pretty much,” Trouble responded enigmatically as he pushed the heavy metal lever that closed the window and listened as it creaked loudly back into place. “Can I meet you downstairs in a minute?”

 

“Alright, but don’t be too long,” Nate warned, “or I’ll come looking for you again.” Getting on his hands and knees, Nate smiled at the small pile of toy soldiers and the two trunks Trouble had used for his makeshift blockade. “I warned Steven you’d have taken over and fortified the defenses by the time we arrived. I just never imagined you’d have an army as well,” Nate teased as he held up one of the small, metal figurines.

 

Trouble groaned at the joke and grabbed the toy out of his father’s hand.

 

“I’m proud of you, Trouble,” Nate added before crawling through the hole.

 

“Thanks, Dad,” Trouble whispered as Nate’s form turned the corner and disappeared from view.

 

With the Admiral now gone, Trouble was finally completely alone in his birth father’s special place for the very first time. The young man used the opportunity to stack the toy soldiers, rocks, and mugs back into one of the trunks and folded and returned the blankets to the other before retrieving Rexley’s cloak and folding it into a small bundle. It somehow felt wrong to leave too much of his own disorder in his father’s space, especially when he still knew so little about the previous Marquis of Winstol.

 

Giving the room a final look, Trouble pushed the fragger deeper into his pocket, folded and draped Rexley’s overcoat over his back to keep it as far off the dusty floor as possible, and carefully crawled out securing the wall panel behind himself.

 

It was time to go home.

 

***

 

Rexley gritted his teeth and tried not to look behind himself as his fathers slowly helped him out of the bedroom and down the four stories of the house to the waiting lift.

 

“Are you in much pain?” Raleigh asked, thinking the tight body language and quietness was a result of his physical injury.

 

“No,” Rexley answered automatically and remained otherwise silent until the lift door closed behind them. “I need to talk to you both,” he cryptically announced once they were alone.

 

Steven and Raleigh looked at each other and back to their son. “Of course,” Steven responded. “What is it, son?”

 

“I want,” Rexley started hesitantly. “I want to apologize to you both for all of this.” Rexley gestured around himself with his hands. “This whole mess, it’s my fault and I want you to know that I’m going to take full responsibility for it with Admiral Hawkins.” Rexley paused and took a breath, holding his hands up to forestall any comment until he was through. “Please, just let me say this. I made a mess of things from the start. The Admiral was right, I should have taken more guards, I should have planned the outing better, gotten a security report on the estate before ever bringing Jeremy out here. I should never have put him in the position of being compromised because of my poor judgment and I know that saying I’m sorry isn’t enough to make amends to you or to him, but I wanted to speak to you first and tell you how I feel. I don’t know exactly what will happen with Admiral Hawkins, but I wanted you to know that I appreciate all the love and care you’ve given me over the years and I wish I’d lived up to your example better.”

 

Steven and Raleigh stared in confused disbelief at their son, speechless until a heavy hand knocked on their lift door. Raleigh jarred himself into motion and opened the door for Nate.

 

“Trouble will be down in a second,” Nate explained as he took a seat across from Rexley.

 

Appearing as though he’d been summoned through the sound of his nickname, Trouble crawled out the window Nate had used and closed it behind himself before racing across the driveway and launching into the lift.

 

“Let’s go,” Trouble urged in a breathless, but happy voice as he shut the lift door behind himself and handed Rexley’s cloak to him.

 

Steven initiated the sequence and the lift commenced the two hour journey home. With Rexley’s words ringing in their ears, Steven and Raleigh remained silent as the trip began, casting glances at each of their fellow passengers and wondering what, exactly, had happened on the boys’ ill fated trip.

 

Of all the passengers, only Trouble acted as though nothing was wrong. At one point on the journey, Trouble announced that Rexley had taught him how to tie a cravat and started to grab for Nate’s.

 

“Come on, Hawk, give me your tie. How can I show you what I learned without one? Rexley’s got mine on his leg,” he reasoned.

 

“I’m not taking my tie off,” Nate growled as he glanced at Rexley’s leg and then up to the boy’s face.

 

“Fine, then I’ll just have to practice on you,” Trouble threatened as he reached for Nate’s tie and worked at the knot. Before long, the tie was undone, but Trouble was realizing that it was far more difficult to adapt the procedure for someone else when you’d learned to do it around your own neck.

 

Eventually, Nate swatted Trouble’s fingers away and undid the fabric, slipping it off of his collar and handing it to his son. “Fine, here, do it already.”

 

Trouble grabbed the silk and tossed it around his neck. With one of his hands still covered with the makeshift bandage, it was tough to hold the strip of fabric properly, but after fifteen minutes and five botched attempts, Trouble finally had something that resembled a cravat.

 

Nate lifted an eyebrow. “Well, it’s a start, I suppose,” he finally judged, “needs work, though.”

 

“Aw, come on, Hawk. I’m handicapped here and I think it’s pretty good for just having learned. I’ll be better at it by the time the wedding rolls around, but don’t I get an ‘attaboy’ or something in the meantime?”

 

Steven and Raleigh looked at Trouble’s happy face and Nate’s scowl before turning to see their son shaking his head as if to say no. When Raleigh shrugged at Steven’s questioning look, it was the last straw.

 

“Alright, I don’t know what’s going on here, but someone had better start explaining something to me,” Steven demanded.

 

Rexley put his hand on his father’s leg. “It’s alright, Father. Please just let it go. I’ve already said that I will handle it. This is between Admiral Hawkins and myself and we will settle it in any way that he deems fit. There’s no need to discuss this here.”

 

Steven turned away from his son and faced Nate. “Nate, please tell me you know what’s going on here.”

 

Nate glared at Trouble before turning back to face the King. “I’m sorry, Steven. I’ve promised Trouble that I would keep silent on the matter so it will have to be up to him to explain things.”

 

Steven’s face paled. A promise of silence coupled with the little bit Rexley had said to them added up to things the King of Regelence preferred not to contemplate. And yet, Trouble looked decidedly undisturbed. He was, in fact, happy.

 

“Jeremy,” Steven asked quietly, leaning forward on his seat and clutching Trouble’s uninjured hand in his own. “Please tell me what’s going on. Did someone hurt you or Rexley?

 

Trouble held up his bandaged hand with a confused look on his face.

 

“No,” Steven said, shaking his head, “I mean, other than your hand and Rexley’s leg, did someone, anyone… touch you in a way they shouldn’t have?”

 

Trouble snorted inelegantly. “Oh man, I know I’m not twenty five, but I’m not two either for Galaxy’s sake.”

 

“Trouble,” Nate growled as he smacked his son on the back of his head. “Mind your manners.”

 

As Trouble reached up to rub the back of his head, Rexley caught Trouble’s eyes and pleaded with him silently. An idea came to Trouble and he smiled back encouragingly as he leaned forward and gently touched Rexley’s knee. “It’s okay,” he said softly.

 

Turning back to Steven, Trouble took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Your Majesty, I’m afraid that I took advantage of the situation and I’ve compromised your son.”

 

“What the…” Steven started to ask, but fell silent and Raleigh dropped his head into his hand as though a headache was brewing for the King-Consort.

 

“Jeremy,” Rexley’s voice boomed in the enclosure of the lift. “What are you saying? I’m the one who led you up to that room and I’m the one who crawled in after. I’m the one responsible, I compromised you.”

 

Trouble shook his head emphatically. “I don’t see it that way, Rexley. You were injured, you couldn’t go any further. I could have hidden somewhere else or at least stayed a respectable distance away in the tunnel. Instead I went into the room and I even joined you in that little bed.”

 

“You only sat on the bed to see to my injury and then to lie down to go to sleep. We only had the one bed and we were each wrapped in our own blanket. If anyone is at fault, it’s me. I’m the one who took your blanket away and put us both under them together.” Rexley’s attention was completely focused on Trouble and he never saw Steven trying to speak to him to ask a question.

 

The three parents looked back and forth between their sons as they continued to argue, Steven’s expression becoming more and more horrified, Nate’s face showing confusion, and Raleigh eventually warming to a fatigued kind of amusement.

 

“And after we were both under the same blanket, then what, Rexley? Hmm, what did I do then? I touched you inappropriately and against your will,” Trouble pressed.

 

“Jeremy,” Rexley warned finally seeing Steven’s expression and looking at his sire and Nate’s curious glances. “That’s not what happened. You… you touched me by accident and stopped when I asked.” Rexley turned to his fathers. “That’s all that happened, I swear.”

 

“It was no accident,” Trouble asserted, straightening his spine and sitting tall. “I did stop when you asked, Rexley, but it was no accident.” Trouble turned from Rexley to Steven and Raleigh. “Your majesties, I’m sorry for having compromised your son, but I wish to ask for your permission to marry-”

 

“Admiral Hawkins,” Rexley’s booming voice interrupted Trouble’s request before he could finish. “In so far as I have betrayed your trust and compromised your son’s honor, I make myself available to you under the customs of our planet. I know that you have no wish for your son to marry at this time and so I will honor a request for a duel at a time and place of your choosing and the choice of weapons I will leave to you as well.”

 

“Now just wait a minute,” Trouble started, anger coming through in his words before Steven put an end to the discussion.

 

“Enough, both of you,” Steven shouted before moderating his tone. By his side, Raleigh snickered quietly and Steven gave his consort a dark look.

 

“I’m sorry, Steven,” Raleigh said with a chuckle. “It just sounds a little familiar, doesn’t it?”

 

Steven softened his scowl, but didn’t join in the laughter. “No, I don’t think it’s that similar. I made sure you’d be willing to marry me first before I had us get caught. Your son is trying to be noble and get himself killed instead.”

 

Raleigh shook his head and sighed. “Why are they always my children when there’s a problem?” he asked rhetorically.

 

Steven turned his glare on his eldest son. “I suppose in the course of this brilliant plan of yours it never occurred to you that you aren’t twenty five yet either?”

 

Rexley looked confused, but held his tongue and answered instead by shaking his head to indicate no.

 

“Minors do not fight duels, Rexley,” Steven said annunciating each word and watched as Rexley turned white with comprehension of the danger he’d placed his fathers in.

 

“Jeremy,” Raleigh touched Trouble’s knee as he spoke his name to get the young man’s attention. “I assume what you started to ask us was for permission to marry Rexley. Is that right?”

 

Trouble swallowed and looked at Nate out of the corner of his eye. Given what Steven had just said, he could have gotten his father into a lot of trouble if this didn’t go well. “Um, yeah, I mean, I know we’re engaged already, but Rexley said that didn’t count or something.”

 

Raleigh moved his hand to Trouble’s shoulder and gave it a shake. “Rexley was right about that much, but it’s alright, Jeremy. If you are willing and your father gives his consent, we can get you two married and no harm done. We have the advantage here that the guards hadn’t reached the fourth floor ahead of us and there are no other witnesses. Still, even the guards have to know that you were at least in the house alone if not in the same room and we should do the right thing soon.”

 

Steven nodded. “It will take time to put together even a small state wedding and if we rushed it too much that would provoke even more questions and trouble than putting it off could.” Steven stopped and considered.

 

“A month?” Raleigh asked his husband.

 

Steven nodded. “Maybe a month, two might be easier, but risky,” he thought aloud, “and the announcement would have to be made right away.”

 

Raleigh turned to Nate. “Can you live with this? I know you wanted to wait a few more years, but he is old enough now to be married under Regelence’s customs and under the circumstances…”

 

Nate looked at Trouble who was turning slightly green at the thought of a state wedding and smiled. “If this is really what he wants and you can get him down the aisle in front of all of those people, it might be better for all of us if he’s safely married and then I can stop worrying about him so damn much.” Nate paused when Trouble turned nervous eyes towards him. “You’ve given me way too many grey hairs in the last few years, brat.” Nate ruffled Trouble’s curls and turned back to Raleigh and Steven. “Do we need to set up a dowry?”

 

Steven nodded. “It is customary. You and I can go over that anytime in the next few weeks, though. Before we get to that though, there is still one last person we have to hear from.” Steven turned to his heir. “Rexley, are you willing to marry Jeremy Hawkins?”

 

Rexley looked at his father for a moment before turning to look at Trouble. “Are you sure you want to do this? Do you really understand what all of this means?”

 

Trouble nodded solemnly. “I can’t say I’m crazy about the state wedding part. I’d rather just run off like Hawk and Aiden did, but… yeah, I wanna marry you.”

 

“It’s not just the state wedding, Jeremy. It’s a lifetime of events like this. You’ll be the Crown Prince-Consort and then someday the King Consort. Your life isn’t your own. I know you. You’re a free spirit. You’ll hate it.” Rexley paused and looked down at his hands. “You’ll hate it and then eventually you’ll start to hate me. You’ve always looked at me so kindly and for a while I really believed that we could marry and be happy, but I never want to see that cold look in your eye, the look that says you are trapped and unhappy.”

 

Trouble spared a look at Raleigh and the two exchanged a knowing glance and wink before Trouble eased out of his seat to kneel on the floor of the lift in front of Rexley. “You know, Rexley, your sire and I are a lot alike and I think that if he could find a way to work around the confines of your world’s expectations for him, I probably can too. I’m told that I’m a very resourceful guy.”

 

Everyone in the lift, including Rexley chuckled at Trouble’s statement and Steven turned to Raleigh and smiled.

 

“Did you ever feel trapped?” Steven asked Raleigh.

 

“Oh, I was trapped alright,” Raleigh teased his husband, “but I went willingly and I’ve never had a moment of regret since.” Leaning forward, Raleigh placed a small, chaste kiss on his husband’s lips.

 

Rexley watched his parents’ brief kiss before facing his fiancé again. “I need you to be certain.”

 

Trouble leaned up and placed a small kiss on Rexley’s lips, uncaring of the others in the lift with them before answering. “I won’t break your heart, Rexley, I promise; that much you can trust me with.”

 

Rexley looked down into sincere aquamarine eyes and leaned forward, capturing Trouble’s lips for another kiss. When Rexley cupped Trouble’s head and Trouble’s arms went around Rexley’s waist, the sound of a throat being cleared behind them reminded the pair that they were not alone.

 

“Trouble,” Nate growled.

 

Steven turned to Raleigh who was trying unsuccessfully to keep from laughing. “I think we’d better go with one month rather than two.” Glancing back at his flustered son and flushed son in law to be, he added, “Unless we want to lock them up in separate wings of the castle for the duration.”

 

“I’m not sure even that would help,” Nate offered. “There’s never yet been a lock invented that this one can’t get around. I’m just going to have to sit on him until the wedding.”

 

“You’re going about this the hard way, Nate. We don’t have to keep Trouble on a short leash, just my son, and I think Steven and I can keep him busy for the next four weeks.” Raleigh smiled to soften his words, but Rexley looked mortified at all the various implications.

 

“Hawk,” Trouble shouted indignantly as he threw himself back into his seat. “That’s really cold. It was just a kiss for crying out loud.”

 

“And that’s all you’re getting for four more weeks,” Nate shouted back.

 

Trouble folded his arms and pouted for a few minutes before he remembered something about Nate and Aiden’s wedding.

 

“Hey, Hawk,” Trouble said with a grin on his face. “Who’s gonna be the best man?”

 

Rexley, who wasn’t aware of Regelence’s wedding night customs, contemplated the question, but the other three men in the carriage knew exactly what Trouble was asking. Rexley thought back to his tutoring on marriage customs and state weddings and responded, “It has to be a married man, of course, but it can’t be Cony as it was for Aidan and Lord Deverell because he’ll need to escort Father as part of the state wedding procession.” The Crown Prince paused to consider and finally answered, “I suppose under the circumstances, the logical choice would be Aiden.”

 

Steven and Raleigh looked at their son first and then glanced over at Nate whose face was pale with horror.

 

“Absolutely not,” Nate roared defiantly, completely baffling Rexley who saw nothing amiss in his choice. Moderating his tone to a low, seething threat, Nate turned on his son. “If you think for one minute that I am going to allow Aiden to… to…”

 

“But it is a long standing tradition on Regelence and you want me to learn and honor the local customs, don’t you?” Trouble replied in a sarcastically sweet voice before leaning sideways to whisper in his father’s ear. “I want a butt plug, dammit.”

 

The lift came to a stop and after Steven and Raleigh had helped Rexley get out, Nate gruffly whispered back, “Fine, I’ll buy you two a giant basket of toys for the wedding night, but there’s no way Aiden’s demonstrating any of them for you. You’ll have to figure them out on your own. Got it?”

 

Trouble smiled and kissed his father on the cheek. “I’m gonna hold you to that, Hawk,” he replied before hopping out of the lift and following the others into the mansion.

 

Nate ran his hands through his hair and leaned back into the coach’s plush bench. He’d been without sleep all night and it was rapidly approaching noon. Between the fatigue and the stress, Nate felt wrung out by the day’s events. “Just four more weeks,” he coaxed himself. “Just get through four more weeks and you’ll be fine.” Opening his eyes and looking to the door of the lift, Nate saw Aiden staring in at him.

 

“What’s in four weeks, sir? Is everything alright?” Aiden had seen his father and brother come in and while Rexley looked injured, everyone seemed to be in one piece. With the crisis averted, he’d expected Nate to come home happy.

 

“Let’s just go upstairs for now,” Nate said with a sigh as he dragged himself out of the lift. “I’m tired and I just want to crawl between a pair of crisp, clean sheets and stretch out next to you for a while.”

 

“Just to sleep,” Aiden questioned suggestively.

 

Nate leaned over and nipped at Aiden’s neck. “Maybe not, but you ask too many questions, boy and you might wish you’d had that nap when you hear what’s going on.”

 

Aiden laughed. “War, Pestilence, Plague, Famine; which great disaster has you so down?” Aiden joked.

 

Nate chuckled at the notion of Trouble as a fifth horseman of the apocalypse before realizing that Aiden was still waiting for an answer. “Close, but it’s Trouble and he’s getting married in four weeks and you get to be the best man.”

 

Aiden stood stock still with his mouth open until Nate nodded. “See,” he told his husband, “I told you that you should have waited.” Picking Aiden up, he continued to their bedroom and locked himself in, resolving not to reappear until the following day. How did the old saying go, ‘Trouble can always wait.’

 

***

 

The next morning, Raleigh waited for Nate to come down for breakfast and cornered him in the hall outside.

 

“Nate, could I talk to you for a moment,” he asked, pulling his son in law aside.

 

“What is it?” Nate asked as he waved Aiden on ahead.

 

“If you think Trouble is up to it, I’d like to find out who these three men were before we lose all hope of tracking them down. I received a more comprehensive report from the security forces. Reddling did have a wife and daughter and they were nowhere to be found on the estate. I’m betting they’re with the drug runners.” Raleigh’s voice was quiet, but deadly serious.

 

“Drug runners?” Nate asked.

 

Raleigh nodded. “It looks as though they’d been using the barns as a processing plant and the remnants of a huge Solarran field were found where the estate once planted their crops. We’ve obtained a picture of the two women; do you think you might be able to run it against the images from the port authority’s camera’s last night and figure out who they were with and what ship they’re on?”

 

Nate nodded and held up one finger. Walking across to the open dining room door, Nate leaned inside and looked for Aiden. “Aiden, I’m sorry about this, but something’s come up that I need to get onto right away.”

 

Aiden picked up on the serious tone. “Is it about the men who tried to kill Rexley and Trouble?”

 

Nate nodded. “I know I promised to take you into town to do some sketching today, but-”

 

Aiden put up a hand to stop his husband’s apology. “It’s okay, Nate. This is more important. Besides, I can spend the day with Trouble and Rexley helping them make plans. If they’re really going to pull this off in a month, we have a lot of work to do. Do you want me to bring some breakfast to you when I’m finished?”

 

Nate’s stomach growled at the suggestion of food and both men laughed. “I was going to say don’t bother, but I would appreciate it. Thank you, boy.”

 

Nate took in Aiden’s warm smile for a second before pulling himself away and following Raleigh to Steven’s office. Once he’d contacted the port authority and downloaded the information, Raleigh took over the task of having the computer filter out the passengers using facial recognition software. While Raleigh worked his magic, Nate excused himself and went to wake his son. It was time to get to work.

 

***

As Trouble looked through the stacks of pictures, Nate devoured the breakfast that Aiden brought and left for him.

 

“Just set aside anyone that looks familiar, Trouble. I know you said you didn’t get a good look at the three men, but anything you can remember may be helpful,” Nate prompted between enormous bites.

 

As Nate chewed a thick slice of toast, he watched his adopted son stare at the grainy images captured by the port’s security cameras. “Didn’t you find anything on the wife and daughter?” Steven asked Nate and Raleigh in an impatient whisper as he paced the room behind their seats.

 

The King-Consort nodded and turned away from Trouble to whisper an explanation to his husband while Nate finished his breakfast. “We spotted the women on a bit of footage walking awkwardly between a trio of men all bound for the same ship so we have a pretty good idea who they are. The pictures of the three suspects are mixed in the stack along with ten others, but the IN can’t pursue an interstellar case of kidnapping against them unless we can show that Trouble can recognize them. At this point, we can’t even link them to a crime. Nate’s hands are tied if Trouble doesn’t pick them out.”

 

Trouble ran his hands through his unruly hair and tugged on it. Even without the surreptitious whispering across the room between his father, the King, and the King-Consort, Trouble was all too aware that it was vitally important for him to pick out the right men. Cursing under his breath, Trouble closed his eyes and tried to remember what he’d seen in the brief glimpse he’d had while locking the door and checking the windows. Because his eyes had been exposed to a bright flash only seconds earlier and the men were running up to the house when he’d seen them, the images in his memory were little more than a blur. Trouble shook his head and looked up at Nate.

 

“Do you have any other pictures of these same people? These are all tight face shots and most of what I remember was heights, clothing, how they moved. If I could see moving footage or at least full length pictures, I might be able to remember more,” Trouble explained.

 

Nate considered Trouble’s request for a moment before bringing up the footage on the computer and sending it to the large monitor. For half an hour, Trouble watched sequence after sequence from a variety of dock cameras. Just as all the men were becoming discouraged; Trouble suddenly sat up and pointed to a group at the edge of one of the shots for pier 8.

 

“That group over there,” Trouble shouted as he pointed emphatically at the screen. “I don’t know who the two women are, but I think those three guys with them are the ones who I saw. I remember the tall guy’s watch chain flashing in the sunlight and that shorter one had that same little limp and the burly one there is the same body shape as the third guy. That’s gotta be them.”

 

Steven turned to Raleigh and Nate and was relieved to see the smile on their faces. “I take it that matches up with what you’d suspected?”

 

Nate made his way to the computer and placed the request for ship data on the relevant vessel while Raleigh nodded at his husband. Trouble leaned back in his chair, closed his eyes and sighed. He still felt horribly tired and the stress of the makeshift lineup hadn’t made things any better.

 

A hand on Trouble’s shoulder made him open his eyes and look up. Steven was standing behind him looking down and smiling. “I’m sorry, Jeremy. No rest for the wicked, I’m afraid. Now that your father is done with you, I’ll need you to come along with me and get started on the wedding preparations.”

 

Trouble’s eyes went wide. “Are you serious?” he asked in disbelief. “Don’t you have people to do that kind of stuff for you? I figured I could just kind of show up that day.”

 

“Trouble,” Nate growled, but Steven merely laughed and waved a hand to show Nate that he didn’t mind.

 

“Yes, I have a very large staff who will be taking care of most of the details, but there are things that you and Rexley will have to attend to personally,” Steven explained as he pulled Trouble’s chair away from the table and gestured to the door. “Everything is set up in the library and the sooner we get started, the sooner we’ll be finished.”

 

Trouble moved slowly toward the door, grumbling, “Still haven’t had any breakfast yet, you know?”

 

Steven patted Trouble’s back and urged him forward. “I’m sorry, Jeremy. I’ll have the footman send something up for you. I think Rexley’s already eaten, but I’m sure he won’t mind if you eat while you work and I could do with another cup of coffee myself.”

 

At the sound of Rexley’s name, Trouble perked up and straightened his posture. “Rexley’s in the library?” he asked.

 

Steven nodded and watched as Trouble disappeared up the stairs. “Guess I should have mentioned that first,” he joked to Nate and Raleigh before leaving the office to them and following Trouble up the stairs.

 

***

 

The wedding preparations began immediately, but the palace withheld the announcement until after the funerals for William and Haverty. Trouble insisted on attending both personally and Rexley was by his side. As Haverty was laid to rest, Trouble placed a single Regelence rose with long thorns on top of the flag draped coffin, a sign that the bodyguard had been killed in the line of duty.

 

Rexley looked on as his fiancé held back his tears and comforted the families of his late tutor and bodyguard. For all that Trouble hated pomp and circumstance, his genuine nature and honest emotion were a comfort to both families and impressed the palace officials who were observing him with keen interest.

 

The next day, the palace public relations office released the news of the impending nuptials and the following two weeks passed quickly. Despite their fathers’ teasing, Rexley and Trouble did get to see plenty of each other, though it was always well supervised. The fact that the Crown Prince was marrying was big news planet-wide and Trouble accepted that he would have to adapt to the event. In exchange, Rexley made sure that as much of the ceremony was tailored to his fiancé’s tastes as possible.

 

For his part, Trouble tried his best to be good natured and understanding, but his patience finally snapped over a confrontation on the subject of wedding clothes. “No way,” Trouble shouted at the protocol officer who continued to thrust the tailor’s sketch toward him stubbornly. “I’ll walk down the aisle with Hawk, but there’s no way I’m marching down through a church decked out all in white like some girl or the frosting on a cake. Forget it.”

 

The tailor threw his hands into the air and appealed to Rexley. “Please, Your Highness, make him understand.”

 

Rexley pulled his fiancé aside and took Trouble’s hands in his own. “Okay, Jeremy, just breathe for a second and then tell me what it is that is bothering you. I know this suit is a little more formal, but you’ve been wearing something not unlike it for almost a year now. What is it that’s troubling you?”

 

Trouble took a deep breath, closed his eyes and enjoyed the warmth of Rexley’s hands holding his. Not for the first time, Trouble found himself wishing they could just elope. As his eyes opened and he looked up at Rexley’s patient expression though, Trouble kicked himself for adding to his overly responsible fiance’s burdens. After a deep breath and heavy sigh, Trouble got his temper under control and answered more calmly, “All those extra doodads are a joke, but it’s not the style that bothers me so much as the color. They’ve got us wearing black for you and white for me, like we’re on the opposite sides of a war or something. And all that white on me…” Trouble paused and shook his head. “Black and white may suit you, you always seem to know exactly what’s right and wrong and what you think, but I’ve always been more of a ‘shades of grey’ kind of guy, you know?”

 

Rexley listened intently as Trouble spoke and smiled and nodded his head when he finished. “That’s very astute, Jeremy. I like that.” Calling the tailor over, Rexley presented an idea to both men and while Trouble nodded enthusiastically, the tailor listened carefully to the full proposal before he responded.

 

“It isn’t a traditional color, but I don’t suppose there’s anything wrong with it. Who knows, Your Highness, you two may set a new fashion.” Happy that his designs at least had been accepted and he could move forward with the royal commission, the tailor rubbed his hands together and prepared a new set of images by altering the color saved in the file. Bucking tradition was a calculated risk, but the boost to his reputation if the public liked the change could drastically improve his business. Turning the sketchscreen toward Trouble and Rexley, the tailor addressed the Crown Prince. “I have his measurements and yours, Your Highness. If both of you agree on this version for your consort, I’ll have both outfits ready for a first fitting in a week.”

 

The palace protocol officer still looked skeptical, but Rexley nodded and escorted a very happy Trouble back out to the shopping district, always under the watchful eye of Debenham, Trouble’s new tutor, and their bodyguard for the day, Foster.

 

Trouble wasn’t thrilled to have any tutor, but he liked Debenham. The teacher was sympathetic to his feelings and he created lessons to be taught in a style more adapted to Trouble’s particular personality. He also had set lessons, which meant that each day could take four hours or eight; it all depended on how fast Trouble learned.   Therefore, the Marquis of Winstol hustled through his lessons each day under the promise of spending a few hours each night with Rexley in the library. With the wedding only a short time away, Trouble’s lessons had become even more important, but Nate noticed that his attention to them had improved and the number of occasions when he went AWOL dramatically decreased. By the week before the wedding however, Aiden had convinced Nate to suspend the lessons altogether. There were still a number of preparations to attend to and Trouble was already showing signs of stress and fatigue from it all.

 

Two days before the wedding, Aiden and Nate took Trouble to the tailor personally for a final check on the fit of his suit and to pick up the outfit. When Trouble stepped out of the dressing room in his wedding ensemble of head to toe silvery grey, Nate smiled.

 

“It suits you,” Nate remarked and Trouble smiled with relief.

 

Aiden fussed with Trouble’s cravat for a moment, but stepped back eventually and nodded with approval. “It’s not the traditional color, but the cut is immaculate and overall it looks very good.” The soft grey would be striking next to Rexley’s stark black suit and crisp white shirt and tie.

 

“So, it’s okay?” Trouble asked nervously.

 

Aiden smiled. “It’s fine, Trouble. I think Rexley’s going to love it.”

 

The tailor beamed with pride over the praise to his work and hung the suit carefully after Trouble changed out of it. When the tailor handed the garment bag to Nate, the admiral passed it over to his husband.

 

“Can you take this and get Trouble home, Aiden? I have an errand that I need to run.” Nate asked.

 

“We could come with you,” Aiden offered.

 

Nate shook his head and pulled Aiden aside, whispering, “No, this is a present for Trouble, something I promised him as a wedding gift.” Nate paused and rolled his eyes. “No father should have to do something like this, but then Trouble is no ordinary son.” Looking down at Aiden’s confused face; Nate put his hands on his husband’s cheeks and forced their eyes to meet. “Promise me, if and when we have children that they won’t be like Trouble.”

 

Aiden laughed at Nate. “No promises. You know as well as I do that troublemakers run in both of our families,” he asserted. “We’re likely to get someone exactly like Trouble if we risk it. Just think of this as practice.” Aiden patted Nate’s shoulder and leaned forward to whisper in his ear. “I’ve got a pretty good idea where you’re heading though, sir. Maybe you should pick up something for us while you’re there.” Aiden waggled his eyebrows and sauntered off to the lift, swaying his hips seductively along the way.

 

Nate cleared his throat and ushered his son into the lift with Aiden. After closing the door and watching it travel down the street on the way back to the palace, Nate began making his way across town toward the ‘toy’ store. Spying a pub along his route, Nate stopped in and fortified himself with a large whisky first. As he tossed the amber liquid back, Nate caught sight of himself in the mirror behind the bar and spied two new grey hairs that he was absolutely certain weren’t there the day before. “Barkeep,” he called out, “One more for the road.”

 

***

 

The day of the wedding dawned cold and cloudless. An early winter had settled in, but the crowds who had gathered outside both the palace and the cathedral cheered enthusiastically as the lifts passed and the spectators angled for position, each citizen hoping to catch a glimpse of the happy couple on their special day.

 

Nate and Raleigh took charge of Trouble, while Aiden and Steven tried to keep the Crown Prince calm.

 

Aiden watched in wonder as his eldest brother, the man Trouble had once referred to as ‘the Ice Prince’ paced the length of the room where they waited. There was certainly nothing distant or stoic about his brother now. Rexley looked nervous and it was a sight Aiden couldn’t remember ever having seen before in his entire life. He was distracted from the floor show when his father, Steven, sat down on the bench next to him.

 

“I’m sorry we couldn’t do this for you as well, Aiden. Does it bother you that you didn’t have a big wedding?” Steven asked his son.

 

Aiden cast his memory back to the day he and Nate had married. They had been at a ball for one of the members of the nobility when someone had followed Aiden to the restroom and tried to kill him. Nate had arrived just in time to save Aiden, but when a crowd of guests spied them alone together in the cubicle after the would-be assassin escaped Nate’s grasp, Nate had been compelled to lie to the crowd and say that they were already married. The family had driven straight to the Cathedral and Aiden was lucky that marriage certificates on Regelence had only date stamps and not time stamps or there would have been a scandal. “I was a little disappointed at the time, I suppose,” he answered, remembering the events. “I was mostly upset, though, at the notion that Nate had saved my life and was just marrying me to save my reputation. I didn’t know then that he’d already spoken to you and Cony.”

 

Steven chuckled. “Three waltzes didn’t give it away to you? Raleigh and I made a beeline for him after we heard.”

 

Aiden shrugged. “He’s not from Regelence. I thought maybe it didn’t mean the same thing on Englor.” He paused. “I didn’t want to get my hopes up and be wrong.”

 

Steven put one arm around his son’s shoulder and gave him a small squeeze. “Never doubt that Nate loves you, Aiden. Any qualms I might have had about Nathaniel Hawkins’ feelings disappeared the minute he offered up his fealty. For a man like Nate, that is a serious thing and I believe it’s a testament to his love for you even more than the obvious declaration of loyalty to me. He loves you and will protect you and your family without hesitation.” Steven paused and released Aiden so that he could see his son’s face. “You’re very lucky, you know.”

 

Aiden nodded. “I do know, Father. I never thought I’d ever want to be married, but now I can’t imagine living without Nate.” Aiden smiled at his father’s curious expression. “Yes, Father, we’re very happy,” he answered the unspoken question.

 

“Good,” Steven said cheerfully as he stood up and captured his pacing eldest son by the shoulders. “Now, we just need to get this one happily married off and life can get back to whatever passes for normal under our roof.”

 

Rexley stared at his father and brother who were laughing at him. He’d missed everything Steven had said in his focused pacing and now looked lost.

 

Steven made a pretense of fussing with Rexley’s perfect tie for a moment. “Son, if you don’t stop wearing a hole in this carpet, the vicar will surely charge us to replace it. Stand still or sit down. We don’t have long to wait anymore.”

 

Rexley’s eyes shot to the clock over the mantel. The wedding was scheduled to begin at noon and it was already 11:55. “Has Jeremy arrived?” he asked. As soon as word came that Trouble’s carriage had arrived and his parents had been seated, Rexley would make his way to the front of the nave to wait for his bridegroom.

 

Aiden stood up and, speaking to his father, offered, “Why don’t I go wait by the door while you calm him down.” Turning back to his brother, Aiden gave Rexley’s arm a squeeze. “I’ll come back and let you know the minute they get here.”

 

Rexley nodded absently and watched his brother leave the room. Crossing to a mirror, Rexley studied his appearance and asked his father, who was watching him in the reflection, “Do I look all right?”

 

Steven followed his son to the mirror and smacked the Prince’s hands away from tugging on his waistcoat for the hundredth time. “Rexley, you’ve been immaculate since the moment you got dressed which, I suspect, was hours ago. I’ve never seen you like this. Are you sure you’re alright, son?”

 

Rexley closed his eyes and took a deep breath before turning around and facing his father. The automatic response to claim that he was fine leapt to Rexley’s lips, but after opening his eyes and seeing his father’s expression, he knew that there was no point. “I’m just… what if Jeremy changes his mind? I keep expecting to get a message that he’s come to his senses and realized that he doesn’t want to marry me. He was so adamant when he was first told and life with me…”

 

“Is exactly what he wants,” Steven countered as he pulled his son over to the bench and sat him down. “Look, Rexley, Jeremy has been through a lot in the last year and he’s come through it all like the survivor that he is. He’s adapted and overcome everything that’s been thrown at him. I couldn’t have picked a better husband for you if I’d tried.”

 

Rexley looked at his father in confusion. “But I thought you and Cony wanted to dissolve the arrangement as much as Jeremy and Admiral Hawkins did?”

 

“That was before any of us saw the two of you together,” Steven answered with a smile. “I’ll admit that I had my concerns. I knew very little about the boy and while I did like him, it just seemed as though you two were far too different to make it work and none of us wanted either of you to be anything but happy. The more I got to know Trouble, though, the more I saw in him. Truth be told, your situation reminds me a little of your sire and I. Trouble is more like Cony than you know and you’ve always taken after me. I watch the two of you together and you seem comfortable, happy. That’s what I want for you, Rexley. I want you to have a husband that will stand by you and support you and love you through all of it. I know that you love him and I can see that he loves you too. You have the training and the knowledge and the judgment, but it’s not an easy job you have ahead of you. You’ll need a good man by your side and I think he’ll do just fine.”

 

Before Rexley had a chance to reply, the organ sounded through the walls and shortly thereafter Aiden rushed into the room.

 

“Trouble, Nate and Cony are here,” he said as he closed the door behind him and turned to face his father. “So as soon as you and Cony have been seated, Rexley and I will go out the side door to the front and we’ll begin.”

 

Steven nodded and stood up next to his son. Rexley had launched to his feet the minute Aiden entered the room. He still appeared tense, but after talking with his father the Prince looked calmer than he had earlier.

 

“Thank you, Father,” Rexley said as he bent forward and kissed Steven on the cheek. “What you said… it means a great deal to me. I’ll try to make you proud.”

 

Steven put one cupped hand on his son’s cheek and smiled. “You already make me proud, son, every day; just be happy,” he stated before turning and quickly leaving the room and if anyone saw the King’s tears, he would always assert in the future that it was just the smoke from the candles stinging his eyes.

 

As Rexley watched his father leave, Aiden straightened his suit and turned his attention to the side door. “Go ahead and brush off your trousers,” he suggested. “I’ll let you know when Father and Cony have reached their seats.”

 

Rexley turned back to the mirror and stared at his reflection. He knew that he should be making last minute repairs to his suit, but he felt paralyzed. “Aiden,” he asked, getting his brother’s attention. “Will I be able to make him happy?”

 

Aiden turned away from the partially open side door and closed it again before crossing the room to his brother. “You already make him happy, Rexley and the two of you are going to be just fine. It’s just pre-wedding jitters you’re feeling now.” When Rexley continued to stare in the mirror, Aiden walked in front of Rexley and looked his brother in the eye. “Trouble told me that the night you two were trapped in the secret room, you held him through the night and kept him warm and safe.” When Rexley’s mouth came open, Aiden put up a hand to stop him. “I know nothing happened, just let me finish. Despite the danger you were in, he said he’d never slept so well or felt as happy as he did at that moment. Whatever it is that you feel for him, if it’s enough to make him feel like that, I know you can make him happy. I suppose the only question left is how did having him in your arms make you feel, big brother.” Aiden gave a last tug to Rexley’s cravat and returned to his station by the door without waiting for an answer.

 

Steven and Cony made their way down the aisle to the places reserved for them at the front of the church and Aiden quietly closed the door to let Rexley know that it was time. As he turned around, Aiden smiled. Gone was the nervous Rexley that had paced off ten miles earlier that morning and a confident, happy man stood in his place. When the trumpets sounded from the gallery, Rexley marched toward the door and out into the church to be married.

 

***

 

“Trouble, for the last time, will you get out of bed already,” Nate shouted at his son. He’d tried to wake Trouble three times prior to this attempt and each time the teenager had crawled back beneath the sheets and returned to sleep.

 

“M’ tired,” came the muffled reply. “Just let me have ten more minutes.”

 

“You’ve had an extra hour already,” Nate explained, exasperated. “We only have an hour and a half left to get you up, showered, fed, dressed and off to the cathedral. Now get moving.” With that, Nate actually removed the blankets from the bed and left Trouble shivering in his flannel pajamas and hugging his pillow.

 

With a groan, Trouble dragged himself out of bed and staggered off toward the bathroom. It was only after Nate heard the sound of the shower running that he breathed a sigh of relief, “Finally.”

 

Nate returned to the common room in the center of the suite and closed the connecting door before joining Raleigh at a small table that held the remains of their breakfast. “I think this time he’s actually up. I heard the shower running, at least. Maybe I’d better check in ten minutes to make sure he doesn’t fall asleep in there and drown himself.”

 

Nate closed his eyes and leaned back in his chair and Raleigh chuckled at the sight before calling out to the house system. “Jeffers, have the footman bring Lord Winstol’s breakfast and some more coffee for Lord Deverell and myself.” Studying Nate’s exasperated expression and the lines around his eyes, Raleigh added quietly, “I think we’ll be needing it.”

 

Nate cracked open one eye to see Raleigh’s teasing grin before sitting back up. “Yes, you’re right,” Nate admitted. “I didn’t get much sleep last night, but the worst part is that he,” Nate paused to gesture with his thumb behind himself toward Trouble’s bedroom. “He isn’t nervous at all; slept like a log right through the night and would still be sleeping now if I hadn’t taken away his blankets. It’s not right.”

 

“I don’t understand,” Raleigh said. “If Trouble’s not nervous, why are you?”

 

“Every time I closed my eyes last night and started to drift off, I’d see images of Trouble getting up to something at the wedding ceremony or the reception or just backing out altogether.” Nate paused to pinch the bridge of his nose in a gesture of fatigue. “I don’t know. I keep thinking how young he is and I think I’m just…”

 

“You’re being a father, Nate. You aren’t losing him though, you know. The boys will go on living here for quite some time unless they decide to make use of one of the estates. Even then, this is where Rexley will rule. They’ll have to come back here.” Raleigh reached forward and patted Nate on the shoulder.

 

“Was it this hard for you when I married Aiden?” Nate asked.

 

Raleigh shook his head. “No, aside from a brief moment of wanting to kill you at the ball, I didn’t have enough time to think about Aiden’s wedding to get nervous. Besides, it feels like forever since we started trying to get these boys married off, Aiden in particular. Now that I’m halfway there, I feel like an old pro.”

 

A knock at the door interrupted their conversation and the footman entered to set up the breakfast and coffee order and remove the used dishes. Just as the outer door closed behind the servant, Trouble staggered into the parlor wearing a robe and slippers and pushing the damp curls out of his face with one hand. Spying the plate at the empty seat, he dove into the chair and grabbed a croissant from the large platter of rolls and chilled, fresh fruit which sat next to a covered dish heaping with hot, scrambled eggs. “Awesome, is this mine?” Trouble asked and took a bite before getting an answer.

 

“If you feel like eating,” Nate said as he watched Trouble dive into his breakfast.

 

Both men stared as Trouble mounded eggs onto his plate with one hand while devouring the croissant in the other.

 

“Didn’t you remember to feed him last night?” Raleigh asked as Trouble started on the eggs and reached for another croissant.

 

“He ate like a horse,” Nate grumbled in response as Trouble set his fork aside long enough to add a large pile of fresh fruit on the other side of his plate.

 

Ignoring his audience, Trouble ate heartily and when he finally sat back and sighed happily, he’d devoured nearly the entire contents of the serving tray. “That was awesome,” he breathed out in appreciation. “I’m stuffed. Hope I still fit in the suit,” Trouble joked as he patted his full stomach.

 

The side of Nate’s face twitched nervously. “You’d better fit,” Nate grumbled, “or I’ll use a crowbar to get you into it myself.”

 

Raleigh raised an eyebrow over Nate’s threat, but Trouble laughed it off. “You would too,” he commented before hopping out of the chair. “Well, I’m off to get dressed.” Trouble paused and gave an exaggerated bow to his father and future father-in-law. “If your lordships will excuse me,” he said formally before backing out of the room.

 

With Trouble’s atypically grandiose exit, Nate sighed and grabbed his coffee cup as though it was an antidote to a deadly disease. Draining the cup, he reached for the pot and poured himself another. “One more hour,” he mumbled softly over and over again between swallows of the scalding hot beverage.

 

Raleigh kept one eye on the clock over the mantel while Nate sipped at his coffee. The trip to the cathedral would only take fifteen minutes. They would travel slowly for the benefit of the crowds, but the route itself had been cleared since early morning and there would be no stops along the way. That still left forty minutes for Trouble to get dressed, but the King Consort suspected that Nate’s worries would continue until the boys had actually exchanged their vows and not a minute sooner.

 

At 11:30, Trouble re-entered the room, fully dressed, but still fussing with his cravat. “Does this look okay?” he asked the two men waiting on him. “I’ve done it three times now and it just doesn’t look right to me.”

 

Nate and Raleigh stood up. Trouble had taken great care with his appearance and looked every inch the Crown Prince Consort he was about to become.

 

“You look just fine, Jeremy,” Raleigh said as he moved toward the door, clapping Trouble on the back on the way. Turning to face Nate, he added, “I’ll meet you two at the lift in five minutes,” before leaving the father and son alone.

 

Nate stared at the young man he’d adopted years ago. Just this morning Trouble had seemed like a child in his flannel pajamas and begging for more sleep, but now, minutes later, as he stood in his wedding outfit, Trouble looked more grown up than Nate could ever remember. Only Trouble’s greenish blue eyes, glittering with excitement, still reminded him that this would always be his little boy. Suddenly needing to look elsewhere, Nate moved forward and fussed slightly with Trouble’s cravat. The boy had mastered tying the complicated knots, but Nate tugged it this way and that to give himself something to do. “It looks good,” he finally admitted. “I think it’s just that the satin is throwing you off a bit.   It reflects more light and accentuates the folds more than the silk ties you’ve been using.”

 

“Good,” Trouble said with a sigh. “I don’t want to disappoint Rexley.”

 

Nate took a step back and stared at his son in confusion. “Disappoint him?” Nate shook his head and pulled his son over to the chair vacated by Raleigh and pushed him down into it before kneeling in front of the boy. “That young man has seen you at your best and your worst and still wants to marry you. If there’s anything in this universe that I’m certain of where you’re concerned, it’s that the only way you could ever disappoint Rexley Townsend would be to not show up to the wedding. He’s so besotted with you, I think you could show up naked and he wouldn’t mind.” The minute Nate uttered the sentence he wished he could take it back. There was no need to give the boy ideas. “What I’m trying to say, is that you look fine and he’ll be the happiest man on Regelence today… and if he’s not, he’s an idiot.”

 

Trouble smiled down at his father for a moment before leaning forward to give the Admiral a hug. “Thanks, Hawk. You’re the best dad ever.”

 

“I love you too, you little pest,” Nate said back to his son as he resisted the urge to ruffle Trouble’s hair and simply returned the hug. “Now enough of the mushy stuff, already. Let’s get you out of here and get you married.” Nate stood up and straightened his coat and vest. “Are you sure you’ll be alright with the cameras and the crowds?”

 

Trouble made a dismissive gesture with his hand and joked as he walked to the door. “Are you kidding me? As long as no one’s shooting at me, I’ll be fine. What’s the big deal?” A chuckle accompanied Trouble’s offhand attempt at bravado, but it came out just a bit forced.

 

Nate watched as Trouble left the room and followed his son at a slower pace. Trouble sounded convincing enough, but something about that nervous laugh made him suspect that his son might not be quite so ready as he pretended to be for the 3000 peers and guests at the Cathedral let alone the quarter million subjects that were expected to line the roads between the two venues.

 

In the bays under the castle, Raleigh, Nate and Trouble boarded the one of a kind lift. The top half of the carriage was made of a specially designed, weapon proof, transparent carbon-aluminum alloy that would allow them to be seen as they made their way to the Cathedral and for Rexley and Trouble to wave to the crowds on the return trip.

 

The lift exited the tunnel and the gates surrounding the castle and a deafening roar went up from the multitude as the trio came into view. Raleigh had been monitoring the news broadcasts off and on throughout the morning and had seen the size of the crowd when Steven, Aiden and Rexley had left, but Nate and Trouble stared out the windows in awe. Even Nate who knew, intellectually at least, the numbers that had been expected was taken by surprise by the appearance and enthusiasm of Regelence’s curious populace.

 

Trouble knew that he should maintain an air of decorum, but found himself eagerly waving back at the crowd as they cheered the lift on. “Are those cameras for security?” he asked as he darted to the opposite side of the lift and waved to the other side of the street.

 

“No,” Raleigh explained as he saw where Trouble was looking. “All of the security cameras are mounted above the street. Those must belong to one of the various news agencies that are covering the wedding. The palace offices issued credentials for all three domestic news services and fourteen off-world broadcasters.”

 

Trouble sat back in his seat and exhaled a huge breath. “Wow,” he responded, momentarily sobered. “This really is a big deal, isn’t it?” Trouble resumed waving, but stayed seated this time. “Rexley must be very popular.”

 

Raleigh nodded. “Rexley is very well liked by the people of Regelence, but it’s more than that. There is also the political aspect and the other planets are curious about his potential when it comes his time to rule, but mostly I think people just love the romance and pageantry of royal weddings and everyone wants to know more about you.”

 

Trouble rolled his eyes. He’d sat through hours of interviews with various reporters in the last two weeks before the wedding and always under the careful supervision of the palace public relations office. It was a toss up which annoyed him more most of the time: the reporters or the PR man. At least the reporters usually had a sense of humor. The palace’s PR representative most certainly did not.

 

“Meh,” Trouble made a dismissive sound. “They just wanted to know what I was gonna be wearing, I think. At least, that was the question that they seemed to ask the most, that and what life was like with Hawk on the Lady Anna.” Trouble paused and shrugged his shoulders. “Of course, there really hasn’t been much more to my life than that, I suppose. A couple of guys tried to ask me about how I felt about some big issue or another, taxes or planetary rights or genetics ethics. The PR guy always steered them away, but it made me realize just how little I know about politics. I mean, I suppose it isn’t really my business or anything, but I never had to think about stuff like that before and I felt like such an idiot.”

 

Raleigh leaned forward in the seat. “You aren’t an idiot, Jeremy. As you said, it was nothing you’d ever encountered before and I’m sure you’ll pick it up quickly if it’s something you have an interest in learning about. You can involve yourself in politics, or not, as you choose. If you do, I’m sure Rexley would appreciate your input and intelligence in helping him to work through these things. Politics is a double edged sword and there’s rarely a right or wrong answer to many of the things a king has to face over the course of his reign. You do the best you can and try to make the right choices, but sometimes you can never really be certain until it’s all behind you. Having good advisors and intelligence and being able to weigh all your options is critically important and you have a sharp mind and good instincts, Jeremy. The populace at large may not know that, but I do and I know that Rexley does too.”

 

Trouble stared at Raleigh until Nate took Trouble’s hand and gave it a squeeze. Nate was smiling at him and nodding in agreement and Trouble came out of his trance. For most of his life, ‘living up to expectations’ usually meant breaking something, causing a scene, or getting into places he wasn’t supposed to go. Raleigh’s words woke something inside Trouble; something new, something exciting.

 

“I suppose I could at least read up on some of this stuff,” he said, attempting to be casual as he returned his focus to the crowd and waving at the well-wishers. “I mean, I doubt Rexley would ever need my help, but it would be nice to understand it better.”

 

Nate and Raleigh exchanged a look. Trouble was very carefully not looking at either one of them and the quiver in his voice was unmistakable. He was worried about his role as Prince Consort, but that was something he would have to deal with on his own so they left him to his own thoughts as the lift moved inexorably forward to his destiny.

 

As the ornately gilded carriage approached the towering spires of the Cathedral, the crowds became even thicker and noisier. When the lift stopped at the red carpeted steps of the massive stone building and the door slid open, the sound was like a wave crashing over the three men. Raleigh and Nate stepped out first and Trouble exited last. He wouldn’t have believed that it was possible for the noise to get louder, but when he stepped down, a roar went up to greet him. Trouble moved to the top of the seven steps and stopped just outside the door to wave at the crowd one last time before being urged into the building by palace security.

 

Inside the Cathedral, Trouble felt momentarily blinded. The bright sunshine and flashing lights outside left him waiting to adjust to the cool darkness of the massive stone church. Vaguely, Trouble heard Aiden’s voice greeting Nate and felt faceless hands tug at his clothes, putting them back into place after his long carriage ride.   By the time he could see again, Aiden was gone and the King had arrived.

 

“Well, Jeremy, you look quite smart. Are you ready?” Steven asked as he clapped the boy on the back.

 

Trouble nodded, suddenly having difficulty finding his voice.

 

Steven leaned forward and whispered quietly. “You’ll be fine, I promise. Just remember, Rexley will be there waiting for you.”

 

Trouble smiled awkwardly and nodded again before moving away from the threshold so that the massive wooden doors could be opened for the King and King Consort. Steven and Raleigh joined arms and waited for the trumpet flourish that brought the peerage to their feet before making their way through the wide archway and into the sanctuary. Once through, the doors closed behind them and Trouble was left alone with Nate and two pages that continued to fuss with his clothing.

 

“My lords,” one of the pages whispered to Nate and Trouble. “There will be a second cue and His Highness will take his place, then we’ll open the doors at the final cue and you’ll make your way to the front of the Cathedral.”

 

Nate nodded, but Trouble stood frozen in place. He felt panic starting to well up from his feet that currently seemed like blocks of ice attached to him at the ankle. “Hawk,” he whispered. “I don’t know if I can do this.”

 

Nate turned to Trouble and read the fear in the young man’s eyes. “You seriously want to call this off?” he asked. It was Nate’s nightmare come true, but in spite of all of the complaints he’d uttered earlier on the subject of his adopted son, he would support Trouble no matter what the answer was.

 

Trouble shook his head. “No, I want to marry Rexley, I do. I just don’t think I can remember how to walk right now. Promise me you’ll drag me by the arm or something if I can’t figure it out by the time the music starts, okay?”

 

Nate smiled in relief and patted Trouble’s hand where it was looped through his arm. “I’ll do you one better, kid. If you seriously forget how to walk, I’ll pick you up, carry you down there over my shoulder and dump you next to your prince.”

 

“Thanks,” Trouble said quietly as he tried to avoid hyperventilating.

 

Seconds later the doors opened in front of him and Trouble got his first look inside the enormous sanctuary. The peerage of the realm were all standing and facing the back of the Cathedral, facing him. Terror gripped at his heart and he mumbled to himself, “Walk, walk, walk.”

 

Just as he was sure Nate was ready to pick him up and toss him over his shoulder, Trouble spotted Rexley standing at the end of the red carpet and smiling back at him. In the distance he could see that the prince’s lips were moving, but he couldn’t make out what it might be that Rexley was trying to say.

 

Curiosity overcoming his nerves, Trouble found that his feet had remembered what to do and before he realized it, he was halfway down the long aisle.

 

The ceremony itself went quickly and reminded Trouble more of a military commissioning that anything else. He had, at one point, noted the presence of the broadcast cameras set up around them, but Rexley had distracted him once again and they were quickly forgotten. Vows and rings were exchanged and Rexley and Trouble moved forward to sign the massive book that registered the couple as being legally married before the prelate walked them back and announced in a booming voice the recognition of the Crown Prince and Crown Prince Consort of Regelence.

 

A cheer went up both inside the Cathedral and outside where the crowd had followed the service on loudspeakers and portable video servers. The entire world and likely half the galaxy seemed to know that Trouble was now the Consort of Rexley Townsend, but he didn’t care. Focused only on his husband, Trouble stood on the tips of his toes and pulled Rexley down for a kiss.

 

Rexley gripped Trouble’s hips and returned the kiss with equal passion, but pulled away after a few seconds. “Later,” he whispered over barely separated moist lips.

 

Trouble nodded and let go of Rexley’s neck to turn with his husband and face the peerage. Thousands of strangers were standing and applauding his marriage, but in front of him, Nate stood silently and smiled.

 

Suddenly remembering the protocol, Trouble turned to face Steven and Raleigh and, with Rexley, bowed deeply to his sovereign fathers in law. Rexley turned them back toward Nate and the pair inclined their heads, showing respect for the familial bond rather than a show of fealty. After the formalities, the pair began their walk down the length of the aisle and out the door to the waiting crowd.

 

Despite having followed the entire proceedings on the large overhead screens and speakers stationed at the end of each block, the crowd surged with excitement as the pair emerged from the cathedral in person.

 

Trouble waved to the people of Regelence and realized soberly that these were truly his people as well now. He was married to the Crown Prince of Regelence. Their concerns were Rexley’s concerns and Rexley’s concerns were his concerns. He was tied to this world and this man forever.

 

Trouble waited to feel a moment of panic or depression at the thought, but as he waved at the crowd and caught sight of his husband from the corner of his eye, all Trouble felt was a strong sense of belonging. Finally, he had the family that had begun when Nate had rescued him and adopted him. There was a place where Trouble belonged, where he would always be welcome. Trouble now had a home.

 

Rexley took two steps down toward the lift, hesitating when he realized that Trouble was not moving. As Rexley turned back, he caught sight of the still expression on his husband’s face and felt a moment of panic until recognition brought a smile to his lips. Trouble’s face showed no sign of fear or anger, only a serene happiness that Rexley had only ever seen once before when Trouble slept in his arms. Extending a hand to his husband, Rexley lead his bridegroom down to the lift and they rode back through the streets to the palace to await their guests.

 

The reception began with a lavish feast for the guests. Trouble looked longingly down at his own plate, but seemed doomed to get hardly a bite for all the interruptions and expectations to mingle with the assembly. Each course was taken away barely touched and as the last plate disappeared from view, Trouble frowned and looked over at Rexley accusingly.

 

“If I’d known you were going to starve me, I might have reconsidered, or at least had a bigger breakfast,” Trouble teased.

 

“You had breakfast?” Rexley queried. With his nerves so completely on edge, the Crown Prince had managed little more than toast and tea.

 

“Sure, didn’t you?” Trouble responded. When Rexley frowned, Trouble continued. “I’m just saying, if I’d known we weren’t gonna get fed, I’d have asked for a second platter of eggs or more of those croissants. You guys have the best croissants here.”

 

Rexley’s stomach growled thinking of the delicious rolls and he was grateful for the chamber orchestra playing that would hide the sound from those people who were standing nearby. “Yes, they are quite good aren’t they,” he observed as he sipped at his drink.

 

“Rexley, are you okay?” Trouble started to ask.

 

“Goodness, what are you two still doing up here,” the PR director interrupted. “Photograph and guest time now, then when the tables are clear the ball begins.” With a hand at each man’s back, the coordinator ushered them from their spots back into the crowds where expectant guests stood waiting for their opportunity to converse with the royal couple and angle for places in the photographs and video being captured for the news services. Pausing to snatch away the Prince’s drink, the coordinator chided, “Careful, Your Highness, you wouldn’t want to spill anything on the clothes. There’s still so much to do,” he added with a heavy sigh.

 

Trouble went along and laughed and mingled, but kept an eye on Rexley as they went. To any other observer, Rexley looked fine, but Trouble could tell that the Prince was struggling. When a small, appetizer buffet was laid out in the room adjacent to the ball, Trouble pulled Rexley aside and popped a piece of cheese in his husband’s mouth.

 

“Good,” he asked as Rexley chewed quickly.

 

Rexley rolled his eyes and nodded as though he’d been a dying man given a drink of water. “Thank you,” he added once he’d swallowed.

 

Trouble grabbed three grapes and pushed them into Rexley’s hand as the wedding coordinator discovered them and headed their way. “Here, eat fast and I’ll stall him.” Rushing to meet the irritating organizer, Trouble took the man by the arm and steered him back toward the dance floor. “Time for the first dance, is it?” Trouble asked.

 

“Yes, yes,” the man gestured frantically back in the direction of the Crown Prince, “but we’ll need his Highness as well, you know.”

 

“Oh, he’ll be right behind us, don’t worry.” Trouble kept a firm grip on the PR director’s arm and tugged him along while Rexley faced the other direction and chewed and swallowed his tiny, contraband snack. The small amount of fruit and cheese had been more of a moral victory than a caloric one, but Rexley felt infinitely better for having had it and joined Trouble at the center of the dance floor for their first waltz.

 

After the waltz, Trouble lost track of Rexley, being passed as he was from one dignitary to the next for a turn on the floor. He’d thought at the time that all the dance lessons had been silly, but now it seemed that dancing was an integral part of political strategy and Trouble wondered if his poor, aching feet were going to be up to the challenge.

 

As his hand was passed off once again, Trouble closed his eyes and groaned. “I’m truly sorry, sir. I must beg a moment of indulgence from you and…” Trouble opened his eyes and realized that it was Rexley claiming the next dance.

 

“Well, I had hoped for at least one more dance with my husband before we left the hall, but if you’re certain that you can’t manage…” Rexley’s voice and eyes teased Trouble with the promise of escape even as he let go of Trouble’s hand and started to feign walking away.

 

Grabbing Rexley’s arm and pulling him back into the middle of the dance floor, Trouble’s eyes flashed. “Oh no you don’t, mister; you aren’t getting away from me again tonight.”

 

Rexley turned his arm and, executing a perfect bow, kissed the back of Trouble’s hand. As he straightened, he gave a genuine smile and answered, “Your wish is my command.”

 

The floor flashed briefly as the lights around the pair dimmed and the small orchestra played the soft opening chords to a piece of music popular for use with the Regelence dance known as the Rose Crown. With all the sensuality of a tango and the grace of a waltz, it was a wildly popular dance but not often well done. It happened to be a favorite of Trouble’s, however, since it was Rexley that had managed to teach it to him after taking over for Aiden.

 

As the gentle music urged the pair to move, Trouble’s face lit up and Rexley smiled back with equal joy. The hushed crowd watched the spot lit couple move through the weaving steps in perfect unison as the specially prepared, touch sensitive floor reflected their steps and displayed the circle of rose like patterns that gave the dance its name.

 

Rexley smiled as he caught the proof of their accuracy out of the corner of his eye. It had been a bit of a gamble to actually use a Rose Crown floor for their last dance, but Trouble’s steps were always so perfect and a good performance would definitely leave a lasting impression on their guests for years to come so Rexley had convinced the palace organizers to go along. Rexley loved Trouble and loved how talented his unassuming bridegroom was. It gave him a special pride to be able to show off his husband to his subjects even in this small way.

 

As the song came to an end, Trouble spun the last rose bud and hopped elegantly to the center of the crown to join his Prince and the applause thundered through the ballroom while the lights came back up to full. Trouble and Rexley took their bows and their leave, slipping through the crowd of well wishers and off to the residential end of the palace.

 

*****

 

Trouble swayed and danced as they moved through the hallways, still humming the last strains of the song from their final dance and paying little attention to their surroundings as Rexley herded him toward their new rooms. At the door to their suite, Trouble spun through the door and came to a stop when his legs bumped into a long, overstuffed sofa. “Perfect,” he breathed out and threw himself down into the deep, soft cushions.

 

Rexley closed the door and touched the pad to initiate the lock before tugging off his jacket and tie.

 

Trouble rolled his head to the side and spied a pair of trays on the table in front of Rexley. “What are those?” he asked.

 

“It looks as though Cony noticed that we didn’t get to eat and had a cold supper sent up for us,” Rexley responded, glancing at a note by the covered dishes.

 

“Oooh, that sounds good,” Trouble said as he bounced back up off the sofa.

 

“It will keep,” Rexley said coolly as he grabbed Trouble’s arm and tugged him away from the table.

 

Trouble moved quickly to the Prince’s side and then used his momentum to turn in Rexley’s grasp, taking in the whole room. “Hey, what are those?” He asked as he spied two wrapped packages stacked on the wing chair next to the sofa. Diving out of the Prince’s hold and back across to the chair, Trouble tore open the gift with his name on it and pulled out a soft, silk robe of silvery blue. “Wow, this is really nice. I bet the other one is for you,” Trouble observed as he passed over the other package and looked on expectantly.

 

Sighing, Rexley opened the box and found a robe in his size, this one of deep gold silk and with a note from his father, Steven. “Yes, they are a gift from Father.”

 

“Should we try them on?” Trouble asked, holding his up in front of him to gauge the size. “They feel so soft.”

 

“They will keep,” Rexley asserted coolly as he took the robe away from his husband and tossed both garments back onto the chair with their boxes. Snatching Trouble’s arm once again, Rexley pulled his husband across the room and through the door to their bedroom. Kicking the door shut behind him, he added, “the whole world will keep, but this won’t. I’ve been waiting for you for years, Jeremy, and I don’t feel like waiting anymore.”

 

Not waiting for Trouble to respond, Rexley charged forward and kissed Trouble fiercely. Trouble clutched at Rexley’s shoulders as he was pushed backwards toward the massive bed that dominated the center of the room. As his knees came in contact with the plush mattress, Trouble broke out of the kiss and gasped for breath. Above him, Rexley loomed, hungry and passionate and Trouble stared at him in surprise.

 

“Wow,” Trouble whispered breathily and shook his head to clear his suddenly fogged brain. “That was… whoa.”

 

The corners of Rexley’s mouth turned up in a wry smile as he released the buttons of Trouble’s elaborate wedding jacket and slid it off of his motionless husband’s shoulders. Tossing it to a nearby chair, Rexley made short work of Trouble’s cravat and kissed his neck as he started on the buttons of the dove grey shirt. “Have I surprised you?” he asked between kisses.

 

Trouble swallowed and clutched at Rexley’s shoulders for support. “Um, yeah, I didn’t expect you to be so…”

 

By now, Rexley had finished with the buttons and pulled apart the two sides of Trouble’s shirt to reveal his chest and abdomen. Kneeling down to start on Trouble’s trousers, the Prince licked a long stripe from bellybutton to sternum before repeating, “So, so what, Jeremy?”

 

Trouble looked down at Rexley, kneeling inches from his still clothed crotch and started to hyperventilate. Trying to take a step back away, he lost his balance and sat heavily on the bed. “You were so… um, shy before and now you’re… well, not.”

 

Rexley rose to his feet and started on his own shirt buttons as he moved forward and trapped Trouble’s dangling legs between his own. Bending at the waist, he placed a gentle kiss on his husband’s lips before straightening up and answering Trouble’s comment. “Of course not, Jeremy, we’re married now. Had you assumed that my reticence was a lack of desire for you?”

 

Trouble gaped as Rexley tossed aside his crisp white dress shirt and thumbed open the first button of his trousers. The Prince’s long hard body and well defined pectorals and abdominals ratcheted up the heat between Trouble’s legs and he snapped his jaw shut to prevent himself from drooling at the sight. “N-no, um… I finally figured that out last month.

 

Trouble paused and tilted his head to the side with a curious expression and Rexley paused in his undressing. Running a hand through Trouble’s messy blond curls, he asked, “What is it?”

 

Trouble turned his head to kiss Rexley’s hand and shook his head. “It’s nothing really. It’s just that, in a way, I’m kinda glad we got stuck in that room overnight. I mean, I wish nobody had gotten hurt, but it’s just that we never really talked about stuff before then and I don’t know if we would ever have gotten married if it hadn’t happened. I always thought you were just being noble, just offering to marry me because it was expected of you and not because you really wanted to.”

 

A light of understanding glimmered in Rexley’s eyes. “You weren’t putting off a decision about the marriage because you were afraid of being trapped with one man, you were afraid of being trapped with the wrong one,” Rexley observed as he pulled Trouble’s head to his chest and hugged him.

 

Trouble shrugged his shoulders in a wordless answer and Rexley backed away to look his husband in the eye. “You, my dear Jeremy, are a romantic.” Trouble blushed under the scrutiny and Rexley chuckled. “What a pleasant surprise.”

 

Trouble’s eyes flashed in irritation until Rexley leaned over to lick a long line up Trouble’s throat and whisper breathily in his ear, “I didn’t mean to tease you. I meant it. It is a very,” he paused to nip at the ear by his lips, “very, pleasant surprise. You constantly show me new things about yourself, about who you are and how you see the world and each time it makes me love you even more.” Rexley moved around to place a gentle kiss on Trouble’s lips and held him in his gaze. “When we’re together, you teach me things about myself that I never knew. You make me feel strong and proud. You make me feel as though someday I truly can make my parents and my people confident of the trust they’ve placed in me. You make me feel worthy of my title. You make me feel like a man.”

 

Trouble stared back into his husband’s amber eyes and sat speechless. No one else that he’d ever met in his life could leave him so at a loss for words as this gentle, sexy, and commanding man could. Suddenly aware that he was now allowed to touch Rexley, Trouble reached forward with tentative hands, curving one around the Prince’s neck and running the fingertips of the other over Rexley’s lips. Struggling to find a way to respond, Trouble found himself simply saying, “I love you.” From the look on Rexley’s face, it was enough and so Trouble leaned back, using his weight to pull Rexley down with him onto the mattress.

 

“Mmmm,” Trouble moaned into Rexley’s kisses as the Prince followed him onto the bed and knelt over him.

 

Rexley tugged Trouble along and maneuvered both of them into the center of the bed, successfully liberating Trouble’s shirt from his shoulders along the way. Nimble fingers made quick work of trouser fastenings while Rexley’s tongue kept Trouble’s mouth occupied.

 

When Trouble’s erection was finally exposed to the cooler temperature of the room, he broke away from the kiss to gasp in a breath of air and Rexley scooted down the bed to slip the last of his husband’s clothing off of his body.

 

Trouble stared at the intricate ceiling over them and vaguely heard the thudding sound of his shoes hitting the floor some distance away before the cold air rushed over his legs. There was little time for him to shiver in response though since Rexley returned within seconds and blanketed Trouble’s body with his own form.

 

Rexley was like a starved man at a feast and alternated between pressing Trouble down into the mattress, rubbing their bodies together, and then pulling away to touch and kiss every inch of his husband’s shorter frame. Finally deciding that his own remaining clothing was the biggest impediment to his desires, Rexley climbed off the bed and frantically started to kick his shoes off.

 

Trouble sat up and swung his bare legs off of the bed just as Rexley finished with his shoes and socks. “Let me,” he asked softly, reaching toward the Prince’s slacks.

 

Rexley’s hurried motions stopped and he remained still, placing his arms to the side and allowing Trouble to undress him.

 

Trouble fingered open the remaining fasteners on Rexley’s trousers and smiled with satisfaction when he heard the Prince gasp at the delicate touches against his trapped erection. As much as his nature urged Trouble to tease the man standing before him and lure more of the sweet sounds from his mouth, Trouble settled for nuzzling Rexley’s crotch with his cheek as he tugged down first the slacks and then his underwear.

 

Rexley’s cock stood long and proudly against his stomach and Trouble leaned into it, inhaling the Prince’s musk before licking along the protruding vein to the head. Unable to reach the head itself from where he knelt on the floor, Trouble pulled away and moved down to Rexley’s balls, giving each a tentative kiss and small lick.

 

Above him, Rexley’s moans changed to growls and the Prince, driven beyond the bounds of his control, reached down and pulled Trouble to his feet by his upper arms. Lips crashed together and Rexley devoured Trouble’s mouth with a furious passion. Separating to take a deep breath, Rexley stared at Trouble’s kiss bruised lips and said apologetically but emphatically, “I can’t wait any longer, Jeremy. I need you now.”

 

Trouble smiled and reached behind himself to tug down the ornate bedspread and top sheet of the bed before crawling in and reaching out with his arms. Rexley dove in after him and into his husband’s waiting arms. “I’m all yours,” Trouble joked softly as he reached overhead to the top of the specially designed Regelence headboard. Having seen the discreetly concealed spigots in his father’s bed, Trouble knew exactly where to find the lube and dispensed a small quantity into his hand before reaching down and stroking it over Rexley’s rock hard cock.

 

Rexley inhaled through clenched teeth and fought back the urge to thrust and come in Trouble’s hand. Reaching down, Rexley clamped his hand over Trouble’s and held it still while shooting his partner a warning glance. “If you keep that up, this is going to be over before it starts and I don’t think either of us wants that.”

 

Trouble grinned wickedly and withdrew his hand before pulling his feet back to his hips and letting his knees fall apart. “No,” Trouble admitted, “right now I want you to fuck me into the mattress until we both scream loud enough to make my father cringe.”

 

Rexley nodded after a moment’s consideration and reached toward the head of the bed. Above the headboard, his fingers moved swiftly over a control panel before seeking out the spigot for the lube and coating the fingers of his left hand. Scooting down the bed, he knelt and brushed his fingertip gently over Trouble’s anus.

 

Trouble flinched slightly before relaxing into the massaging movements of Rexley’s finger as it circled his asshole.

 

“Does that feel good?” Rexley asked as he nuzzled the inside of Trouble’s thigh and pressed lightly into the opening with his fingertip.

 

“Mmm-hmm,” Trouble agreed wordlessly and started to shift his hips slightly, looking for more stimulation.

 

Rexley watched Trouble’s reaction and, placing his right hand down for balance, leaned forward and took Trouble’s cock in his mouth.

 

Trouble gripped at the sheets and fought the urge to thrust hard down Rexley’s throat but couldn’t control the small movements into and out of his husband’s mouth.

 

Rexley relaxed his jaw and allowed Trouble to gently fuck his mouth while he timed his finger’s penetration. Now deeply aroused, Trouble’s opening pulsed as Rexley tongued and sucked his cock. At each relaxation of his husband’s passage, Rexley inched his finger further and further forward until he had reached as far as he could. Rotating his hand, he wiggled his finger and explored, finding Trouble’s prostate and sliding gently over it.

 

Trouble’s hips shot up, pushing his cock deeply into Rexley mouth and he groaned aloud.

 

Rexley followed Trouble’s movements and retreat as he collapsed back down onto the bed, tearing at the pillow under his head. He shifted the movement of his finger from stroking to gently thrusting in and out until Trouble’s groans changed to whimpers. Pulling his finger out, Rexley pushed back in, this time with two fingers, but Trouble’s body clamped down and he heard his husband’s sharp intake of breath.

 

Instantly, Rexley pulled away and looked at Trouble’s face. “Pain,” he asked.

 

Trouble was biting his lip and holding himself rigid, but he shrugged his shoulders in response. His body language gave Rexley his answer even if Trouble didn’t want to say the words aloud.

 

“It’s alright,” Rexley said soothingly. “I’m sorry. I’ll go slower this time, okay?”

 

Trouble nodded and smiled at Rexley before closing his eyes and willing his body to unclench and let go.

 

Rexley started to thrust with only one finger once again until he felt Trouble relax into the rhythm of the movement and saw his flagging erection return to fullness. Easing his finger out, Rexley swallowed Trouble’s erection and eased two fingertips shallowly inside. At each stroke, Rexley moved gently forward and retreated, patiently opening his lover as painlessly as possible.

 

When Rexley succeeded in inserting both fingers up to the knuckles of his hand, he began to separate them, stretching Trouble’s passage further. Trouble’s hips were moving forcefully now and Rexley released his erection with a kiss to the tip before restarting the process with a third finger.

 

As it had before, Trouble’s body showed signs of tension and pain, but Rexley now knew enough to move slowly and Trouble’s passage stretched faster this time than it had before with the second finger.

 

“Are you ready?” Rexley asked quietly as he rotated the three fingers deep inside Trouble’s ass.

 

When Trouble nodded, Rexley withdrew his fingers gently and grabbed one of the small hand towels discreetly folded on the bedside table to wipe his hands. The intense passion of earlier had cooled during the process of seeing to Trouble’s comfort, and Rexley bent down and gently kissed nervous lips.

 

“No, you aren’t,” Rexley observed, feeling contrite over his earlier, desperate attempt to rush toward sating himself inside Trouble’s body. “I am sorry that I tried to hurry you before. We can take all the time that you need.”

 

Trouble narrowed his eyes in annoyance as Rexley leaned back and away from him, letting the cold air intrude even more. “I may have missed out on one good Regelence tradition, but you aren’t getting away from me that easily, Rexley Townsend,” Trouble announced as he surged forward, tugging Rexley back down and craning his neck to claim Rexley’s lips. Swept along in Trouble’s determined seduction, both men clutched at each other while tongues entwined and hips thrust together. The lube on Rexley’s cock, which had grown cold, quickly warmed as the pair moved enthusiastically together and eased their movements.

 

Before long, both men were undeniably ready and Trouble snaked a hand between them, grasping Rexley’s erection and directing it down between his legs. “Now, please,” he asked softly.

 

Rexley pushed up with his arms until he could look down at Trouble’s face. “Are you sure you want this tonight? We don’t have to do this if you don’t want to.” The Prince searched Trouble’s face for any sign of fear or nervousness, but found only a contented smile.

 

“I want this, Rexley, I do,” Trouble insisted. “I also want more though. I want all the things that you promised me that night in my birth father’s secret room.”

 

Rexley smiled down at Trouble and lifted his hand to kiss his knuckles. “I’ll spend my life giving you those things, Jeremy. I didn’t lie when I said you deserved them and to me that responsibility and trust is every bit as important as the duty that I owe to my people. If I cannot live up to being your husband, I have no business ever being King.”

 

Trouble reached behind his head and retrieved more lube. Rexley sat up and closed his eyes as Trouble reapplied the lubricant over his cock, more slowly than the first time. After a few coating strokes, Trouble stopped, his hand still on Rexley’s erection and waited for the Prince to open his eyes and look down at him. “I believe you,” Trouble said with confidence as he finally released Rexley’s cock, “and I’ll tell you what else I believe. I believe that you are a remarkable man, an amazing Prince and that you will be a great King someday.”

 

There was a moment of silence as Rexley stared down at the man who had been his fiancé since before he had been born and wondered how such a random thing had turned out so well. Rexley was a blessed man, and he knew it.

 

Trouble squirmed under the scrutiny and the silence and surged up to give Rexley a tiny peck on the lips. As he flopped back down on the bed, Trouble set his mouth in a mock pout and said, “Now, enough with the mushy stuff, will you please get back down here and fuck me already?”

 

“Your wish is my command,” Rexley said as he grinned back at his energetic husband and got himself into position. Pushing slightly inside Trouble’s body, he rocked back and forth, forcing himself deeper with each stroke until he was surrounded by the gripping pleasure of tight, wet, heat. Once inside, Rexley paused and panted to regain control. “Alright?” he breathed out quietly, wanting to make certain of Trouble’s pleasure and not just his own.

 

Trouble wriggled his hips and clenched his muscles experimentally. The feeling of Rexley inside him was wonderful, different that what he’d imagined, but mind blowing all the same. As he changed positions, Trouble’s movements made Rexley’s erection push against his prostate and he moaned loudly. “Mmmm-more than alright, Rexley; oh, Great Galaxy, that feels good.”

 

Rexley nodded and withdrew slowly to ease into another stroke. He had no idea what it felt like for Trouble, but he certainly knew that it felt good from his end. Rushing back inside, Rexley panted and heard Trouble’s audible gasp.

 

With each stroke, Rexley moved a little quicker and he found that Trouble matched his pace and moved his hips to help them power the thrusts. The two moved easily and well together as though they’d been making love for years, but their youth and inexperience was still working against them as they approached their climaxes faster than either would have liked.

 

“Jeremy,” Rexley panted out. “I won’t last much longer.”

 

Trouble nodded in understanding and reached for his own cock. He was close as well and it took only a few firm strokes before Trouble shouted through his orgasm and painted his own stomach in streaks of white.

 

Rexley watched in rapt fascination as Trouble’s ejaculate splattered between them, but the additional stimulation of his husband’s spasming passage pushed him over the edge. Rexley’s vision grayed out and his hearing dimmed. Only the fact that his throat felt raw when he came back to himself, collapsed over Trouble’s sweaty body, gave him any clue that he too had shouted when he’d come.

 

“Rexley,” Trouble whispered as he nudged Rexley’s shoulder.

 

Rexley, thinking he was crushing his husband, tried to rise on strained arm muscles, but settled for rolling over to Trouble’s side. “Sorry, love,” he mumbled.

 

“Rexley,” Trouble repeated, slightly louder than the first time and pushed at Rexley’s shoulder again. “Are the lights supposed to be doing that?”

 

Prying his eyes open slightly, Rexley noted the overhead lights blinking and sighed heavily. “Yes, Jeffers, what is it?” he asked as he closed his eyes again.

 

“Your Highness, we have a request to override the control settings for your room. Shall I engage the soundproofing or disregard the input?”

 

Rexley considered for a moment and turned to Trouble with a grin on his face. “If that had been a request from my parents, Jeffers would have processed it automatically and it certainly isn’t from one of my nosy brothers. They’d be more likely to try to turn it off than turn it on.”

 

“Jeffers,” Rexley said louder, addressing the house system, “would that request have been made by Lord Deverell by any chance?”

 

“Yes, Your Highness, it was,” Jeffers answered plainly.

 

“We’ll need the staff to clean up the room in a moment, Jeffers. Once they leave, you may engage the full privacy mode,” Rexley ordered. “Oh, and have the staff leave the dinner trays on the bed after they make it. The Prince Consort and I will be eating in here, I think.” Rexley turned to Trouble who nodded at the implied question.

 

“Very good, Your Highness,” Jeffers responded and the lights came back up to full to show that the communication had ended.

 

“You didn’t soundproof the room,” Trouble asked incredulously.

 

“You said you wanted to shout loud enough to make your father cringe. Given that his suite is directly below ours, it would have been rather counterproductive to engage the soundproofing, don’t you think?” Rexley explained.

 

“Well, yeah, but… why did you do it, or not do it, I guess?” Trouble asked.

 

“So far today, it has been the only thing you’ve asked of me. I wanted to do something to make you happy.” Rexley sat up in the bed and looked at Trouble with a concerned expression. “That was what you asked, wasn’t it?”

 

Trouble looked at Rexley with a stunned expression before diving at him and kissing him. “Yeah, I just can’t believe you actually did it. Hawk is gonna kill us, but… that was awesome.”

 

“Good,” Rexley replied cheerfully before kissing Trouble on the tip of the nose and hopping out of bed.

 

Trouble watched Rexley walk out of the bedroom and back into the living area of their suite and was surprised at the level of sexual hunger he still felt despite their recent coupling. Rexley was beautiful and the sight of his naked body parading in front of him was stirring Trouble’s libido back to life.

 

Rexley reappeared in the bedroom carrying the robes that had been a gift from his father, Steven. “I expect you are as hungry as I am so I thought we could grab a quick shower while the room is tidied and then eat before retiring.” Rexley paused when Trouble didn’t answer right away or move out of the bed. “If you’d rather eat first or have a bath instead… perhaps you are too tired… or sore.”

 

Trouble shook his head and climbed gingerly out of the big bed. “No, I’m fine, really. I guess there are a few things I’m still trying to get used to,” Trouble explained as he opened the door to their private bath.

 

The large central area contained a long counter with multiple cabinets and two generous sinks and entryways branched off to one area with a large tub, another for the toilet, and one dedicated room that was a massive shower enclosure.

 

“This is just for us?” Trouble asked.

 

“Yes, of course,” Rexley answered, hanging the robes from a hook inside the room and closing the door behind them. “The rooms on the other side of the living area have a bath of their own that the children will share.”

 

“Children,” Trouble repeated, not understanding.

 

“Our children, when we have them, and Muffin too if she decides to move from her current room. Cony and I thought at least for this first month or so, everyone might be more comfortable if she stayed in the room she’s accustomed to… Are you sure you’re alright, Jeremy?”

 

Trouble shook his head to clear it and smiled back at a worried Rexley. “Yeah, of course, it’s just been a long day, you know? Go ahead and get in the shower, I’m just gonna, you know,” Trouble gestured vaguely with a nod of his head in the direction of the toilet, “and then I’ll join you. I hope Cony sent up something good. I’m famished.” Turning away, Trouble wandered into the other room, leaving Rexley to heat up the shower.

 

True to his word, Trouble joined Rexley who was already soaped and slippery and the pair eventually managed to wash between kisses and gropes. As much as both men wanted to do more, the lure of food in the next room proved to be too much temptation. They dried quickly, donned the soft silken robes and re-entered their bedroom to find the discarded clothing gone, the bed remade, and their dinner trays sitting at the bottom of the bed.

 

Trouble crawled in first, sitting cross-legged and yanked the covers off of the massive silver trays. “Hey, we’ve got a nice little feast here, Rexley, come see: cold meats, cheese, fruit, rolls, even a big pile of cookies.” Grabbing a drumstick in one hand and a cookie in the other, Trouble started in on his long delayed dinner.

 

Across the room, Rexley was standing over a chair near the wardrobes and staring at a small pair of boxes, one with each of their names on it.

 

“What’s the holdup?” Trouble asked between bites.

 

“These boxes,” Rexley started. “I suppose I just missed them in the rush earlier and I seem to remember tossing a shirt this way as well which would have covered them up.” He picked up each box in one hand and started back toward the bed. Extending his right hand, he said, “This one has your name on it. Would you like to open it now?”

 

Trouble shook his head and held out the remaining bite of his cookie for Rexley. “No way, husband of mine; to quote a wise man, ‘they can wait, this can’t.’”

 

Rexley chuckled at hearing his words parroted back to him and accepted the cookie after setting the packages down on the bedside table.

 

The two men finished their feast and Rexley took the trays back into the living area while Trouble brushed away the crumbs and turned the bed down. When Rexley returned, he picked up the two packages again and crawled into bed next to Trouble.

 

Trouble ripped open the small box and pulled out a note and a small, clear, borosilicate glass butt plug. “Damn, damn, damn,” he cursed aloud, getting Rexley’s attention. Putting the shiny object back inside the box, Trouble snatched up the note and started to read aloud:

‘I’m sorry, Trouble. I went to the shop and I intended to keep my promise, but I just couldn’t do it. In the end, I decided that those sorts of things are best selected by the two of you anyway so what I’ve done is generate an account for you. At the bottom of the note you’ll find a secured internet address and I’ve purchased a credit for you. The two of you can choose what you want up to the amount of the account. You needn’t worry about discretion. The items will come to a private box in my office and I’ll bring the box back here to the palace for you. No one will ever know. Since you were so insistent about the damned butt plug, I did get you one of those and I picked up something else along the way that I think your poor husband will need, but after that, the two of you are on your own.

Love,

Hawk’

 

Trouble threw the note back into the box in disgust and huffed loudly.

 

“I take it that you’re disappointed?” Rexley asked softly. “The account seems like a generous offer to me and it was quite thoughtful of him to have a mail box set up so that we didn’t need to worry about how to have them shipped to us.” Rexley spoke in soothing, conciliatory tones, wanting to calm Trouble down rather than anger him further.

 

“Oh, it’s not that,” Trouble answered. “Hawk has some interesting tastes so I’m sure the store will have some fun stuff to choose from. I’m just mad because he actually got me the butt plug and I didn’t get the chance to use it.”

 

Rexley looked confused. “I don’t understand. I’m sure there will be plenty of opportunities for us to use this, um, gift, if that’s what you’d enjoy.”

 

“No, no,” Trouble started, “you don’t get it. It’s like this big Regelence custom and it pissed the hell out of Hawk when he found out about it. Apparently, on the wedding night the best man is supposed to send the bridegroom to the other groom with a butt plug. Cool, huh?”

 

Rexley stared in horror at the box and thought of his brother Aiden setting hands on Trouble. Suddenly remembering Trouble’s earlier comment about missing out on the ‘one good Regelence tradition’, Rexley turned his bloodless face toward his husband. “And you wanted this?!” he asked, shocked.

 

“Well, I wanted the butt plug though I could live happily without having Aiden put it in. That’s just creepy,” Trouble said with a shiver and laughed as Rexley sighed in relief. “Anyhow, I found out about this custom and told Hawk about it the night he and Aiden got married. He went storming off to your parents’ room, but I don’t think Cony had... well, you know.”

 

Rexley closed his eyes and waved one hand as he nodded, showing that he understood but wished desperately that he didn’t.

 

“Anyhow, when we got back to the palace from Hedge Row, I told Hawk I wanted a big basket of toys including a butt plug of my own. I mean if all the other guys on Regelence have one, I don’t want to be the only square left out of the fun, you know?”

 

Slightly recovered from the revelations of the evening, Rexley stared at Trouble for a second before shaking his head and smiling wryly. “Only you, Jeremy,” he chuckled.

 

“And that’s why you love me,” Trouble offered, giving his husband a quick peck on the cheek. “Hey, what did Hawk get you?” he asked, reminding Rexley of the package he was still holding.

 

Rexley opened the small box to reveal a pair of standard issue IN restraint cuffs and the thumb drive for setting the fingerprint ID key along with another note.

‘Your Highness,

I wish you and my son every happiness in the future, but in trying to decide on a gift for you, this was the most useful thing that came to mind. I have a feeling you’ll need them.

Best regards,

Admiral Hawkins’

 

Rexley stared at Trouble out of the corner of his eye to gauge his husband’s reaction, but Trouble was roaring with laughter. “Leave it to Hawk,” he said between giggles and grabbed at the cuffs. “Hey, these could be a lot of fun,” Trouble said huskily as he waggled his eyebrows suggestively at Rexley.

 

Rexley snatched the cuffs back and put them back in the box before setting it on the nightstand. “Not tonight they won’t, Jeremy. We haven’t even set the code yet. Perhaps later.” Rexley took off his robe and laid it across the chest at the foot of the bed before coming back and lying down under the covers. “Besides, I thought you were tired.”

 

“Well,” Trouble started as he pulled the glass butt plug back out of the box and examined it in the light. “There’s tired and then there’s tired, you know.”

 

Rexley sat up long enough to take the toy out of Trouble’s hand and set it carefully on the nightstand. After putting the box alongside it, he tugged open the sash on Trouble’s robe and pushed Trouble back down onto the bed. Rexley ran his hand down Trouble’s side and caressed the soft skin of his husband’s hip and thigh while he licked and sucked at one pert nipple. When Trouble started to moan softly, Rexley pulled away from Trouble’s chest.

 

“Jeffers, lights out please,” he called to the house system.

 

Immediately, the room was bathed in darkness that was broken only by dim moonlight peeking through the curtains over the tall windows.

 

Rexley’s hands wandered between Trouble’s body and the soft robe still clinging to his shoulders and he whispered in Trouble’s ear. “We can play with toys later, but for now I prefer getting into Trouble all by myself.”


End file.
